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Discussion on Pregnant show mare-advice on pulling shoes | |
Author | Message |
Member: lindas |
Posted on Friday, Jan 2, 2009 - 7:26 pm: My daughter's mare is 17 years old, 8 months pregnant with her first foal and doing very well. She was barefoot on the back feet when we bought her 2 years ago, but due to rocky, mountainous trail rides and an extensive show schedule has been in shoes ever since. I don't know when she was last barefoot on the front, the previous owners had her for 3 years and she had front shoes when they bought her. She has thin hoof walls that chip easily, and my farrier thinks she would benefit from being barefoot while raising her foal. The only problem is that when we pulled her back shoes for breeding she was very sore for about 2-3 weeks. We put the rear shoes back on her about 3 weeks after breeding so that we could show and trail ride throughout the spring and summer. The farrier is coming on Monday, and since we are not going to be riding her for several months I would like to pull the shoes. My concern is that she will be extremely sore if we pull all 4 at once, even if we do the booting, padding, etc. I am nervous about this pregnancy as it is because of her age and do not want to upset her if we can help it. I thought about pulling the rear shoes now, allowing her to adjust, and then in 6 weeks try the front shoes. But I am worried that in 6 weeks the extra weight from the baby might make her even more miserable when we pull the front shoes. Any ideas? Will the excess pregnancy weight give her any more trouble? Should I wait until after the foal is born to pull the front shoes? |
Member: scooter |
Posted on Friday, Jan 2, 2009 - 8:47 pm: Linda I think in your situation I would pull the backs and see how that works, once comfortable I would pull the fronts, as my farrier always told me if it don't work we can put them back on anytime. Try to make sure she has some soft footing if possible, that helps alot. I don't think I would wait until the foal was born especially if you think she is going to be sore, she may have a hard time dealing with a first foal and pain in the hooves. You want her comfortable as possible at that time.Good Luck with her hooves and the baby! |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Friday, Jan 2, 2009 - 9:17 pm: I would agree about the pulled shoes. There is a product called Sole-Guard you could try until her feet toughen up. You can apply it yourself. I have friends who have used it with very good luck. It is sold through Vettech, I think. |
Member: lindas |
Posted on Friday, Jan 2, 2009 - 9:28 pm: Thanks, Diane. Our barn has a concrete floor with hard rubber mats in the stalls. I believe in LOTS of shavings to help the joints and reduce bed sores, etc.I'm going to look into the Easy Boots. I don't think she will need them for the backs, but I do predict problems with the fronts. As sore as she was after only being shod on the rear for about 18 months, just think how bad the fronts may be after at least 5 (or more) years with shoes. She has been either a versatility show horse(Western, Hunt Seat, Jumping, and Games) or a lesson horse all her life. For all I know she has not had shoes off since she was a two year old! This could be interesting. |
Member: lindas |
Posted on Friday, Jan 2, 2009 - 9:30 pm: I've never heard of Sole Guard. Anything that would help. Thanks. |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Friday, Jan 2, 2009 - 10:05 pm: I think it's a relatively new product. You inject it onto the hoof and put a piece of paper or plastic over it, sit the hoof down, and let it set up. It's like some of the impression and padding materials they use as it's very cushioning but it sticks to the (cleaned) foot for several weeks. The horse I know that it was used on had it on for a month and was worked, in the arena, on his normal training schedule during that month. This horse had been in shoes and was very tender after the shoes were removed. He seemed fine after his month with the Sole-Guard. I have no idea how it would compare to other alternatives price-wise. It seems like handy stuff to have around though. |
Member: ekaufman |
Posted on Friday, Jan 2, 2009 - 11:09 pm: A friend of mine is using Sole-Guard with very good results. I've never tried it.How much weight has the mare gained? I have one mare that becomes HUGE in the last trimester (as some may recall, she won our photo contest for walrus-sized mares), and it's tricky even to trim her feet at the end. I would make this decision based on the mare's comfort, and not be in any hurry to change anything unless it's absolutely necessary. One concern that you do not mention is whether the mare (an aged maiden) may be prone to step on or kick at the foal when it's born. If you have any worries in this area, I'd be more inclined to get her barefoot for safety. |
Member: scooter |
Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 - 6:25 am: Linda not having her trimmed the day the shoes are removed may help too. Sometimes I wait a couple weeks until they are comfortable and have grown some hoof wall. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 - 10:20 am: I think it very important that foaling mares have their shoes pulled as they often step on the foal in the confines of a stall. I like the idea of two stage, first the backs then consider the fronts, process.DrO |
Member: lindas |
Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 - 11:20 am: She has not gained much weight yet. She did get very fat on the late summer pasture, but seems to be back to normal, body condition wise. The belly is about normal for a mare her size at 8 months.Dr. O, I have been reading about pain possibly causing abortion in mares. Anything to worry about here, particularly when pulling the front shoes? I don't have anything to protect her feet for the rears, since they are coming off Monday, but will track down some of that Sole Guard or get some Easy boots to help her with the fronts in a few weeks. I might risk a couple days of low dose Bute if she is miserable with the rears this time. (I understand the safety of that in pregnancy is questionable) |
Member: scooter |
Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 - 11:54 am: Linda when I pulled Hanks shoes he was very tender and I tried the hoof wraps, I really like them because I didn't have to worry about getting the size right on his never ending changing hoof. They come with a pad also...They made him very comfortable and no rubs. They are lasting me way longer than the predicted time. I have a spare pair also, I haven't had to use them yet.Here's a link to them, but if you google Hoof Wraps you can probably find them cheaper. It's a little hard figuring out how to get them on (at least it was for me) but after the first couple times it was a breeze. They are not sold as a pair, the price is for one. https://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductClass.aspx?productclassid=6183 |
Member: lindas |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2009 - 9:56 am: Those look nice, Diane, thanks. The price is right for sure.I think tomorrow when we pull the hind shoes I am going to ask my farrier to leave me a couple of regular pads, and I can tape them on if needed until I can get something shipped. Maybe I'm a worry wart but I could not believe how sore she got last spring when the hind shoes were pulled for breeding (good thing the stud's owner required it, she kicked the crap out of the big guy the first time he bred her) I had never had one get so sore before, so perhaps I'm being overly cautious. |
Member: ekaufman |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2009 - 10:23 am: Hi Linda,Your mileage may vary on those hoof wraps. I used them on my competition horse when she was recovering from a sole abscess, and their average time to destruction was about 30 hours. I ended up rigging my own from old hay tarps, old blue jeans, and foam pads. And duct tape of course-- lots and lots of duct tape! Those looked incredibly sharp and professional (not) but lasted about 5 days a piece on this horse, and were much cheaper. |
Member: scooter |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2009 - 10:44 am: Elizabeth did your mare destroy them or did the bottoms wear out? I read some reviews where they said they wore out pretty fast, so as a precaution I added a thick layer of duct tape to the bottoms. Hank was on abrasive limestone and regular pasture, he wore them for about 3 weeks straight and I have no doubt I could get 3 more weeks out of them at least. The velcro and the boot itself I thought were very durable. |
Member: ekaufman |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2009 - 11:08 am: Good point of clarification-- she wore them out. I reinforced them with duct tape, reapplied 2x/day. She was confined in a small sandy run with a stall, and she wore the bottoms off and detached the velcro in just over a day.Possibly the manufacturing isn't consistent with this product, though this is an active mare who may well take many more steps/day than the average horse-in-boots. |
Member: rtrotter |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2009 - 12:12 pm: Hi all,There may be a solution to the barefoot( but needs boots sometimes problem) on the near future horizon at www.easycareinc.com. My barefoot trim professional put me onto them towards the later part of last year. They are called the Easyboot Glove. A very lightweight durable boot that can be glued on or used with easyboot gaiters ( for easy on and off and to be used only when needed). They have undergone extensive testing and should be out on the market very soon. I like this idea quite a bit from the perspective of ease of use and being able to use them when needed( like for day to day jogging on a stone dust track and being able to keep my HPT barefoot trim without destroying the trim to put shoes on). I think these would work well in just about any situation including the breeding situation that started this thread. I would love to get my hands on a pair of these to see just how long they would last on a horse just coming back to the races. If I could get between 100-150 miles on them, they would be well worth whatever price I'd have to pay. Rachelle |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Monday, Jan 5, 2009 - 7:42 am: DrS, if the horse is very sore following shoe removal your best treatment is stall rest until you find protection. For more see Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Problems Following Shoeing or Trimming.DrO |
Member: lindas |
Posted on Monday, Jan 5, 2009 - 9:42 am: Thanks, everybody, for all your help. Now that I think about it I'm not sure the wraps will work, because this is an active mare that paces and runs the fence when her "buddy" is taken out for his daily ride. If she is in the stall she circles and calls until he is back. She makes a real mess in her shavings! I will print all this out and discuss the situation with my daughter and we will decide what to do. |