Barbaro

[Mellifluous]

I am curious...

What do all of you farrier types think about hoof resection as a treatment for severe laminitis? Removing 80% of a horse's hoof sounds very extreme to me. I have heard that if your horse has laminitis, don't let your vet touch their feet - wait for your farrier because THEY are the hoof experts, not vets.

I would like to hear your versions of how to treat a horse with a severe case of laminitis.

[Terry Wallace]

Don't let the vet touch their feet? NO WAY !!! to that line of thinking. The vet has pain-relieveing drugs, an x-ray machine and the know how... as for resectioning...it often works VERY well... Farriers of course have their place, I have worked on laminitic, as well as completely abcessed feet. BUT..I cannot write an RX for Bute and other needed things to deal with the pain the horse has.

To me....it takes a team of a good vet AND a good farrier....NOT one or the other... ;-)

[Carol Nelson]

I think that's what she means, Terry, and truthfully, most vets don't do the work themselves...they have their own farriers standing by to do the corrective stuff. At least mine does. But yes, definitely a good vet and a good farrier make the best team!

[Blair]

In this light I am fortunate, my vet was a farrier before she went to vet school. She is really on top of foot issues and the form/function concept. A good team or dually trained person is a wonderful thing to have for your horses.

Blair

[Terry Wallace]

My vet can "farrier" with the best of 'em! He can pull a shoe quicker than anybody I ever saw.... and ah...he is "easy on the eyes"...and he has his own horses...he ropes competitively... He's a well-rounded horseman..besides being a VET!!

My farrier likes to refer to x-rays and to consult with the vet.

I have the "best of both worlds" here.... as far as horse care goes...but Lordy...don't ask about how cheap ----they AREN'T !!!!

[motorgypsy]

Terry you say your vet is "well rounded" - do you mean as in we need to send Barbwire to photograph his more rounded parts????

[Terry Wallace]

I would be willing to BET...she would DROOL over him.

TOO many women have !! :D

HEY...the title of this thread is BARBERO......how is barbero doing today...is he still alive?

Is he up? Down? in a sling perhaps? What is the latest word???

[Mellifluous]

Yes, I meant a team - But I would never let any of the vets in my area touch my horse's feet if he had laminitis. I also would not let the UGA vet school touch my horse's feet. They love those "Natural Balance" shoes there. They screwed up Spirit's feet while he was there and that really ticked me off. They had no business touching his feet. He was there for a severe gash between his rear legs. Feet had nothing to do with it!

They are great for surgeries and VET type stuff at UGA but lord help you if they decide to start messing with your horse's feet!

[motorgypsy]

So far so good today. I'm at the Saturn dealership and can't copy the link but he's eating and feels fine so far.

[Abejita]

what you might not know is the New Bolton has a Farrier on staff..a very well respected farrier..I do not think that the vet went in there with out consulting him and most likelt he actually did the work ...

[Hacienda Del Sol]

Hoof resection for Laminitis? Not sure about that. One of the problems associated with founder--secondary to laminitis- is the abcesses that form from the necrosed tissue and P3 rotation. I wouldn't just resect a foot without first identifying abcesses.

[Terry Wallace]

Hoof resectioning works..in many cases. It LOOKS absolutely GROSS..but I have been reading about it for years now. It is nothing I would ever consider doing...that is for a vet to decide, but Equus magazine ran some good articles on it. The tough part is keeping it clean...some of them get acrylic onto them, and some don't. Most are bandaged...

Its hard to see a hoof wall "half gone"...on a live horse...even in photos!!

[GeorgeGuns]

Resecting the hoof is essentially forcing a "slough" as would happen in a super bad founder. It takes a LOT of support to get a horse through this. The point is to relieve pressure from bad wall - weekly trims will do the same thing without exposing the inner hoof to the outside. Yes it may prevent all the ugly abcess, and yes within hours of removing hoofwall the exposed tissues start hardening off, but its really extreme. You really need a fairly intact sole to get a resection to work. I'd be interested to see some good write-ups on this.

[appyday]

Yeah I have heard this really works..I am sure like Terry said it is horrible to look at but works...I am sure they did what they think is right for him..

[Terry Wallace]

Anybody know how Barbero is DOING? Where is the link to see him? I'm sure he is still alive or they would announce it on the news.....BUT....what is the web addy to see how he is doing...would someone post it here please? ;-)

THANKS....

[TrueStepPaso]

Coreen pretty much stated what I was thinking.....resections aren't for any of my horses...ever. Laminitis, WLD, what have you...I won't allow it. I find it to be way too extreme & invasive.
If a hoof is severely pathological, and needs that kind of "relief", then it will slough off on its own....and there have been quite a few recorded cases of ENTIRE hoof capsules sloughing off, where the horse grows back a new (intact) hoof capsule & life goes on, quite soundly.

Patience & correct trims have worked beautifully for me....

(JMHO)

[Mellifluous]

This site has the best and most detailed information.

http://www.thebloodhorse.com

There is a Monday/Tuesday update in the headlines

Click on the Barbaro news watch for all of the past information.