Footiness

Time to update this post; 'Help my horse has gone footy'  

Footiness is the bane of many a barefooter, and unresolved footiness, or a misunderstanding of what footiness means are common reasons for shoeing.

But the world is slowly waking up to the idea that a horse's hooves are a window to her health and it's a sad day when we choose to ignore the warnings we are being given.

And footiness is a warning, pure and simple, that all is not as it should be.  How we react to that warning says a lot about us.

What I failed to mention in the previous post is that list items 1-6 can cause an inflammatory response, as can adipose tissue.  This can cause footiness regardless of how good the hoof is.  Long term inflammation also seems to impact on the ability of a horse to grow a good foot, particularly sole. And a thin sole is a problem even if the horse isn't obviously footy.

If we are lucky, the footiness, including the thin sole sort, is indicating a basic management error (see post highlighted above) and can be resolved relatively simply.

If you can't resolve the footiness through good management then you need to consider metabolic disease such as Insulin Resistance (IR), Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) or Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID), commonly known as Cushings.  I've found that many horses that fail to grow a thicker sole have metabolic problems.

Also consider what I call FTS, Fat Thigh Syndrome.  I've known horses go footy simply from being overweight.

And if the horse has been out of work for any reason don't forget that the feet need time to get fit. No I'm not being daft, check hoof anatomy, there are a lot of ligaments in the foot and if they are not working they can get out of shape.  I've personal experience of that.

Help my horse has gone footy

Footiness is a mixed blessing.  Now don't get me wrong, we would all rather our horses never got footy.  But with the barefoot horse it's a really useful early indicator of something going wrong.  And this is something that I think a lot of people don't quite grasp. 

Footiness is a symptom of less than perfect health.  Sometimes only minor, sometimes something more.  But less than perfect health nevertheless. 

This is a quick list of things to consider:

1. too much grass
2. impact on grass of change in environment (rain after drought, several days of frost, fertilizer)
3. too much sugary/starchy feed
4. sugary hay (for cool season grasses)
5. other non specific dietary upset
6. course of antibiotics
7. thrush
8. bruise
9. corn
10. abscess brewing
11. sole been thinned by inappropriate trimming
12. foot overdue for trimming

Generally speaking if you can remove the causal factor the footiness will resolve within days, although some will take a couple of weeks.  If in doubt always consult with your vet.

But please don't be tempted to shoe until you know what the problem is - you may resolve the footy symptom, but you won't resolve the cause and without the footiness to guide you, you won't know if your horse has been restored to better health.

If you are determined to shoe (and of course I'd counsel against) then only shoe a sound horse.

Are you feeling footy?

The grass is growing faster than the girls can scoff it, even though we have really restricted their grazing area. As yet it is too wet to fully implement their summer track, but it won't be long.

We were concerned the sugar in the grass might start to show as footiness, especially in Madam. But so far, judging by performance they are ok.

I took them out ride and lead today and headed for a bit of gravel track. Madam kept offering trot even on the really horrible bits. Then she jumped a line of bricks set into the ground. I guess her feet are feeling ok.

We were worried that they would bicker during the ride and lead, but bar a bit of 'competitive trotting' so far its been ok. They seem to realise that it is really important that they behave and they rise to the challenge beautifully.

Sugar sugar everywhere and its all in the grass

Much of the grazing in the UK has been 'improved' for the benefit of the dairy industry. The leys have been selected to be high in sugar. This is not good news for horses and it is particularly bad news for horses that are insulin resistant.

The girls do suffer a bit from insulin resistance, although neither have ever had full blown laminitis. There is a huge amount of high sugar grass and plantain on the new large circuit, so my plan is to graze the horses on it overnight to about 10am. They will be on the old 'nursery' circuit with hay until late evening.

I will monitor them for signs of too much sugar and if necessary restrict their intake of grass even further.

I do give them two additional meals a day so that I can give them some supplements. At the moment they have Alfa A Oil, Epsom Salts (for the magnesium) and a general supplement. They also have a salt lick in the field.

I plan to move them onto free choice supplements as soon as I can find a supplier.