We took Mr T to Dr. Judith Shoemaker who, within three minutes, had a
complete diagnosis and plan for action! (I swear, this vet just "knows
things", totally uncanny.)
Here's what happened: we put Slypners on back before the ugly weather
started in the winter and have used them continually since. The front
base shoe comes standard with a toe clip, the rear shoes have side
clips. The problem is that Mr T has a long, narrow foot that requires
the farrier to set a shoe back to improve the breakover (using a 2:1
ratio) and raise the heels. Unfortunately with a toe clip there is only
so much you can do with the set-back position without seriously reshaping
the shoe. As you know, you cannot reshape Slypners without danger of
losing inserts.
So, over time, his foot has gone the long/narrow route with the heels
becoming a bit underslung. We had already noticed some contraction at
the heel. Both Kevin & I had settled on the feet as our problem area but
I was thinking "navicular" and was fully prepared for the inevitable
radiographs to be taken, despite no additional symptoms to support that
type of diagnosis.
What we have is a simple case of sore heels, aggravated by hard-going (he
was worse on macadam, not bad on grass).
Solution: we're going to temporarily put on St. Croix eventers, fashioned
into a bar shoe with side clips, and radically set the shoe way back. He
may be lame for awhile until the foot readjusts. Dr. Shoemaker didn't
recommend a "slow process" of inching it back a little at a time. She
feels that the foot will not rebalance sufficiently--better to have a lot
of lameness right now, rather than periodic lameness over a period of
months.
But we do plan to go back to the Slypners as soon as possible. They make
a base shoe with side clips for the front foot. For now, we need the
extra heel support that bar shoes will provide.
So....a good news/bad news senario---typical.
Diane @ Safe Haven