Blog Post

Shoes for Laminitis - Yes or No?

  • By Jenny Austin
  • •
  • 13 Sep, 2023
  • •

Shoes for Laminitis - Yes or No?

“There was instant relief after the shoes were applied” “the shoes have made her so much more comfortable” “he’s not in pain anymore with the heart-bar shoes on”

These and other similar statements are often heard from horse owners, farriers and Veterinarians alike after shoeing a horse with laminitis. It may be standard shoes or a special “therapeutic” shoe.

It can be difficult to dispute such clear clinical evidence because the horse will seem to walk off pain free after shoeing but it’s not the relief you think it is! As you will read below, it’s only masking the pain and possibly causing more damage.

This is a dangerous situation because they could then move more and faster than the recovering tissue can handle. The apparent benefit of being pain free in the short term will be compensated for by a prolongation of the problem in the long term. In our trimming practice, we see and hear of many horses whose condition deteriorated over several months in shoes (especially the therapeutic kind) and everyone is scratching their heads not understanding how that could have happened. We have also met several horses with laminitis who just lay down and gave up once shoes were nailed on and the shoes had to be urgently removed.

One real case study was Joseph, who was already shod but started to get footsore and was diagnosed with laminitis in November (late spring). Joseph’s owner was advised to keep working him to reduce his weight and vaguely to “cut down” his feed. Joseph was also prescribed phenylbutazone (Bute) daily. So the diligent owner kept riding him until 3 months later he got worse and she organised more radiographs. The deterioration inside the hoof capsule over the 3 months was very significant. The pedal bone rotation had gone from zero to 15 degrees! The farrier came along and recommended heart bar shoes to “support the bone from rotating further”. Luckily for Joseph, his owner called us. We removed the shoes and the CAUSE of the laminitis, which was his diet, supplied boots and pads, stopped the use of BUTE, implemented hand walking and now 3 months from our first appointment he is moving soundly barefoot and ready to get back to riding.

There have been many others, including some who sadly didn’t make it because wedged shoes were applied which resulted in pedal bone penetration of sole and subsequent infections.

On the other hand, we have rehabilitated many cases without shoes and often if it’s one of our existing clients, it’s all over and done with by the next trim.

So WHY do shoes cause more harm, specifically to hooves affected with laminitis?

What are the disadvantages of shoes which make us so strongly discourage their use?

  • Causes a reduction in the effect of healthy hoof mechanism – this means it limits the supply and transfer of blood in the hoof or in other words less circulation having a numbing affect (therefore shows less pain)
  •  Frequent trims to facilitate re alignment are impossible with a shoe
  • Causes increase of vibrations affecting the whole leg.
  • Decreases natural shock absorption
  • Lengthens break-over of stride, causing strain
  • Affects the growth of the healthy tissue as new connection grows in
  • Changes to sole sensitivity are harder to notice with a shoe on (because it’s lifted off the ground), therefore progress or deterioration can’t be monitored easily.
  •  Frogs will atrophy due to reduced pressure which can then become painful and cause toe first landing on a compromised toe area
  • The sole will become soft and weak due to lack of stimulation
  • Shoes prescribed with wedges aim to raise the heels to relieve tension on the deep digital flexor tendon, but doing so, will increase the pressure on the tip of the pedal bone and the lamellar connection at the front of the hoof – causing more pain and disruption to the new attachment of lamella. The pulling of the tendon is not the whole reason for pedal bone rotation, it’s equally the bond of the lamina to bone and extensor tendon.
  • Fungal and bacterial infections enter through nail holes
  • Nailing to a separated wall causes it to become weaker
  • Restricts the transport of nutrients and removal of toxins. Infections can result.

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The 5 Freedoms of Animal Welfare

By Richard van Dijk • 13 Jun, 2020

 

Are you aware of the Five Freedoms in the Animal Welfare Act?   This Blog explains how we interpret these and put them into practice in our daily dealings with our own and clients’ horses. They are:

  1. Freedom from hunger and thirst: by providing enough fresh water and the right type and amount of food to keep them fit.
  2. Freedom from discomfort: by making sure that animals have the right type of environment, including shelter and somewhere comfortable to rest.
  3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease: by preventing them from getting ill or injured and by making sure animals are diagnosed and treated rapidly if they do. Animals should have access to veterinary care when needed.
  4. Freedom from fear and distress: by making sure their conditions and treatment avoid mental suffering.
  5. Freedom to behave normally: by making sure animals have enough space, proper facilities and the company of other animals of their own kind.

Number 1 Freedom of the Animal Welfare Act is “Freedom from Hunger and Thirst : by providing enough fresh water and the right type and amount of food to keep them fit”. Now this can sound very straightforward but it’s easy to get it wrong and is a massive topic.   Here at TTT :

·        We ensure that horses in our care have 24/7 low ESC+starch grass hay, plus grazing. If they are losing weight we might add in some higher calorie hay such as lucerne or a cereal hay.

·        The most important part is that it’s 24/7 low starch, high fibre “trickle feeding” as suits horses digestive systems.

·        We have in our training contract that if owners wish their horse to have a bucket feed, that they must supply that as an extra, and we are happy to give them whatever is instructed.

·        We will contact the owner and suggest a more energy dense bucket feed if the horse is losing weight on hay/grass.

·        Our own horses have a small feed of rinsed and soaked beet pulp, lucerne chaff, salt, a custom mineral mix and some have other supplements as needed for joint and gut health.  

·        Our horses, if in work, will have soaked, cracked lupins added and we give whole oats after hard work.

·        Of course, we always have fresh water available.

·        We have heard recently of a trainer using feed/water restriction as a training tool – that is cruel and unnecessary and would never, ever happen here.

Number 2 Freedom of the Animal Welfare Act is “Freedom from Discomfort by making sure that animals have the right type of environment, including shelter and somewhere comfortable to rest.”

This one is fairly simple- here at TTT:

·        Horses are paddocked with a suitable companion, not yarded or stabled, with room to browse and move around. There’s soft sand to sleep on, trees for shelter and a lovely outlook.

Number 3 Freedom of the Animal Welfare Act is “Freedom from pain, injury and disease: by preventing them from getting ill or injured and by making sure animals are diagnosed and treated rapidly if they do. Animals should have access to veterinary care when needed.”

This one is not as straightforward as it seems and is closely linked to Number 1 and 4. Here at TTT:

·        Equipment is tailored for the comfort of each horse, not for the trainers’ comfort, to eliminate pain from ill-fitting equipment.

·        We never hit or beat a horse with anything.

·        We never tie up their legs or similar acts which cause pain and injury.

·        We don’t work horses to exhaustion or expect paces that they are not physically ready for.

·        The environment is free from hazards and as safe as we can make it to minimise risk of injuries.

·        We ask owners to have their horses in good condition upon arrival, with their teeth and worming recently attended to and with full disclosure of previous injuries, illness and disease.

·        We only provide companions which are suitable for settling new horses, not those which will harass or are aggressive.

·        We feed as per Freedom Number 1 to keep the horses healthy

·        Owners are notified immediately of any health concerns and our contract states that we will call a Veterinarian anyway if we deem it necessary but we can’t reach the owner first.

Number 4 Freedom of the Animal Welfare Act is “Freedom from fear and distress: by making sure their conditions and treatment avoid mental suffering”.

This one is also complicated and very much open to interpretation. Here at TTT:

·        Our training method keeps the horses stress levels under their fear threshold. The physical signs of stress have been identified and well documented by the equestrian science community and because of our extensive experience we are able to immediately identify the symptoms of stress. Anything that escalates stress and adrenaline is counter-productive to good learning.

·        We don’t implement some common and popular training methods that can cause fear and distress. For example, excessive use of the round pen; excessive circling/lunging; use of restraints e.g. hobbles, side reins and the like; excessive use of lateral movements, etc.

·        We aim for calm at all times and achieve this by breaking down training outcomes into individual elements, then establishing one outcome at a time until it is thoroughly understood. Richard’s Passive Focus Exercise is one way to attain calm.

·        We do not progress to faster gaits until we have established good responses to our aids in the slower paces and until the horse has developed good strength and balance. This ensures smooth transitions, communication and minimum stress at all paces.

Some points are copied from Freedom Number 3 as they overlap, i.e. physical and mental suffering can be caused by the same thing -

·        Equipment is tailored for the comfort of each horse, not for the trainers’ comfort, to eliminate pain (and distress) from ill-fitting equipment.

·        We never hit or beat a horse with anything (causes pain and distress)

·        We never tie up their legs or similar acts which cause pain and injury (and distress)

·        We don’t work horses to exhaustion or expect paces that they are not physically ready for.

·        We only provide companions which are suitable for settling new horses, not those which will harass or are aggressive.

Number 5 Freedom of the Animal Welfare Act is “Freedom to behave normally: by making sure animals have enough space, proper facilities and the company of other animals of their own kind.”

This one overlaps and encompasses the first 4 Freedoms. So, as a summary, here at TTT:

·        Horses have 24/7 spacious paddock living with grazing or ad-lib mixed species grass hay

·        They have carefully matched companions

·        They have trees and valleys for shelter

·        They are very closely observed throughout the day (and we can hear them at night)

·        We are extremely experienced and notice the tiniest issues before they escalate

·        We are educated in nutrition, hoof care, conformation and riding disciplines

·        Emotional, mental and physical health of the horses is our number 1 priority

Richard van Dijk & Jenny Austin



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