medial lateral imbalance

[callmelucky]

after being lame on both front legs, i have recently found out via xrays etc that my horse has medial lateral imbalance of both front feet. shes now having remedial shoeing but wondered if anyone has any info on this. shes only 5 and had a bad start in life. could this have been prevented if she had regular trimming when growing up? i got her as a 3yo.

any info on this would be great.

thanks :-)

[glenruby]

It is predominantly her current shoeIng that is at fault if she has medico lateral imbalance. V little can be attributed to her upbringing.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by callmelucky

after being lame on both front legs, i have recently found out via xrays etc that my horse has medial lateral imbalance of both front feet. shes now having remedial shoeing but wondered if anyone has any info on this. shes only 5 and had a bad start in life. could this have been prevented if she had regular trimming when growing up? i got her as a 3yo.

any info on this would be great.

thanks :-)

There's plenty on medio lateral imbalance on here
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/#uds-search-results

I hope you find the remedial shoeing helpful. IME shoes are part of the problem though.

[applecart14]

Is this what used to be called a broken backed hoof/pastern axis or otherwise known as sheared heels? My youngster suffered with this, it was due to incorrect foot balance due to rubbish shoeing and it made him lame. It was easily remedied over a period of good shoeing with a decent farrier. I am surprised it took xrays by your vet to determine this condition, the vet I used at the time spotted the problem immediately on sight when I summoned him due to the horse being lame. Still that's vets for you, if they can charge the cost of a call out to diagnose a problem or charge the cost of expensive xrays to diagnose the problem then I can guess which one they'd do, but then again I am slightly cynical!!

Before you shout at your farrier I have to add its not always due to poor foot balance. It can also be due to conformational problems too which can create an uneven loading which will exacerbate the problem. Here is a good link for you to read http://www.equipodiatry.com/shearhls.htm Very interesting about the treatment this chap recommends in the second paragraph under the heading of treatment. Sounds like a very good idea and a lot of common sense too. Shame he lives too far away to visit/call him out.

[Andalucian]

Getting the medial/lateral balance right is critical. Lameness, sidebone will follow if this is incorrect for long.

It is entirely due to the way the foot is balanced by the farrier/trimmer. The first thing I'd be doing in your situation is asking the vet for his advice on the best farrier/trimmer he could recommend and switch to them.

[foxy1]

Originally Posted by glenruby

It is predominantly her current shoeIng that is at fault if she has medico lateral imbalance. V little can be attributed to her upbringing.

This.

[star]

Originally Posted by applecart14

Is this what used to be called a broken backed hoof/pastern axis or otherwise known as sheared heels? My youngster suffered with this, it was due to incorrect foot balance due to rubbish shoeing and it made him lame. It was easily remedied over a period of good shoeing with a decent farrier. I am surprised it took xrays by your vet to determine this condition, the vet I used at the time spotted the problem immediately on sight when I summoned him due to the horse being lame. Still that's vets for you, if they can charge the cost of a call out to diagnose a problem or charge the cost of expensive xrays to diagnose the problem then I can guess which one they'd do, but then again I am slightly cynical!!

Before you shout at your farrier I have to add its not always due to poor foot balance. It can also be due to conformational problems too which can create an uneven loading which will exacerbate the problem. Here is a good link for you to read http://www.equipodiatry.com/shearhls.htm Very interesting about the treatment this chap recommends in the second paragraph under the heading of treatment. Sounds like a very good idea and a lot of common sense too. Shame he lives too far away to visit/call him out.

mediolateral imbalance is not the same as a broken back hoof-pastern axis. mediolateral means inside to outside whereas the broken back thing is the angle of the hoof in line with the leg.

my youngster has mediolateral foot imbalance when I got him - it was just down to a lack of foot trimming - his feet had been left to fend for themselves as he wasn't shod. good farriery (not shoeing, just trimming) sorted the problem out.

[callmelucky]

thanks everyone for your replies. she is currently lame but xrays have ruled out any bony changes such as sidebone and navicular. she had steroid injs into her coffin joints as this was where the pain was located to. shes also had a course of adequan injs. the vet reccomended a good remedial farrier who has shod her and after one shoeing i instantly recognised a difference in her feet. the farrier who did this said my farrier is a very good farrier and that i should stick with him. im just a bit concerned as to why he never noticed this after nearly 2 years of shoeing her, as once i was shown what was wrong it was so obvious to see.

ive been told she will need remedial shoeing for the rest of her life...really?! as its expensive! lol. will proper farrier management now we know the problem not correct it in time so she can go back to normal shoeing?!

thanks for your help, much appreciated.

[Andalucian]

Jeez that's a whole lot of medical intervention at such a young age. If you're happy with the new farrier, then keep asking more questions to assure yourself why you should go back to the original farrier. Make sure its not just because they're mates and he doesn't want to upset him.

No, he won't need remedial shoeing ongoing, in fact get him out of them asap, and back into single front clip shoes. They are the only ones I'd ever allow on fronts for any horse if I felt it needed shoes. Keep it simple, but make it your business to learn all you can about correct foot balance in all dimensions.

Remember, at the end of the day your horse is relying on you to make the right decisions for him, don't be fooled in to just blindly following advice....from ANYONE.