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  Discussion on Extremely Soft Soles
Author Message
Member:
ramonah

Posted on Thursday, Apr 26, 2007 - 11:27 am:

Dr. O,
I just aquired a 12 year old QH gelding. He has the sweetest personality, softly nickering at you when you pay attention to him. He also is sound in his stall and turnout.

His background; He has been a show horse his entire life. Being a reiner, he has always had sliders on the rear feet. The front feet have had pads on, due to very sensitive soles. This sweet boy is a product of a very successful training/showing barn, with both the positives and negatives. They never removed his shoes, even in the winter, or he would not be able to show. Performance quality came first. 'Deano' was born with his right rear hoof slightly turned out. Instead of trimming/shoeing him correctly, they left the outside wall of his hoof 1 1/2" longer/taller so that he would slide straight. Deano went lame. After having xrays, his owners were given 2 choices; either inject his right hock and continue to show or retire him. LUCKILY, his owner decided to retire him now, while he is still useable. She could have had him injected, and continued to show him for a few more years. But the result could possibly be having to be put down in the end.

Deano came into our barn from the training/showing barn, until his owner decided what to do with him. So, I knew Deano for approx. 4 months before I agreed to take him. His owner found out we were in the market for a second horse for my husband/children for occasional light riding. She offered him to me for free. Even though he was 'free', I knew that his vet/farrier bills could be huge to maintain him. I agreed based soley on the fact of his personality. If he was not sound and usable, I could take him home, home where he could live out his days been spoiled and groomed by children.

So, I called my vet and had his records (and xrays) transferred to her, before having her out. I had my farrier and my vet out at the same time. This was the conclusion;

Left front: clear (amazing)
Right front: old torn suspensorary, healed, should not be a problem.
Left hind: Upper hock; the tarsocrural joint is clear, the proximal joint shows slight change (probably what ended his career). Lower hock; distal joints have DJD and are almost fused.
Right hind: Upper hock; clear. Lower hock; distal joints have DJD but have fused.
Soles of feet are extremely thin. Even with just your finger tips you can push in on the soles.
Since we had xrays, a flex test of hock and fetlock were not necessary.

Prognosis: For the light work that we would like to do, Deano should be fine. Eventually, he might need an injection into that upper hock to stay comfortable. Start the process of correcting his hooves, by correctively trimming 1/2" every 4 weeks. No shoes. Keep him on soft ground. Allow his feet to grow out. If we want to take him out of the indoor arena, use like an easyboot. Besides good quality hay and salt block, a hoof supplement might help. Also, a joint supplement. I showed them what I feed Chubby, the Equine Direct Complete. They agreed that had what I was looking for, and would be fine.

Finally, to my question to you (sorry for my ramblings); I am concerned regarding his soft soles, he does NOT need a stone bruise on top of everything else. I started doing the research on sole hardeners. Keratex was recommended by my farrier. He recommended a slightly different schedule then was advised by the Keratex website. He recommended 1x daily application for the 1st week, then every 3 days for the next 2 weeks. Then he would recheck the soles.

I know I already have instructions via my vet and farrier, but I really value your opinion. You seem to do really active research, and have up to date knowledge. I will see you post something, then a few years later, it becomes more common knowledge and is accepted.

Dr. O, you mentioned you had heard of the products made by Keratex, but were unable to find the ingredients. I did some research comparing the product information on their website https://www.keratex.net/hoof_hardener.htm.
I then compared it to what you have recommended in the past. I would be interested in knowing what you think. It seems to me that the ingredient is formalin, a formaldehyde and methylene mixture.

I have also read that this can make the hooves too hard and brittle. Isn't there a happy balance?

And because our environment in Western Washington is so wet. The horses turnout is hog's fuel, for drainage, so we don't have mud. You have recommended an oil/wax based hoof dressing. Any product recommendations? All the products I have seen also have a stripper in them too, which doesn't seem too good.

Thank you.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 27, 2007 - 9:20 am:

Thank you for the kind words Ramona, lord knows we try to be accurate in a world full of heresay.

I think the main question is whether the softness described is do to poor quality horn or excessive thinness of the sole which I think is more likely. With this question in mind I would like to see you take a holistic approach to fixing these feet. The article on thin soles suggests a number of issues that should be addressed together.

Concerning treatment causing an overly hard sole, the frequency with which you apply formaldehyde based (formalin) products will control the results. I avoid making specific recommendations on products in these forums because ingredients can change but I have added some specific suggestions in the article of products that do an excellent job protecting the walls, maintaining optimal hydration and guarding against excessive moisture loss and are economical.
DrO
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