Any proven natural remedies for low ring bone in a rear leg? Can a Farrier do anything?

Question

I have a 8 yr old gelding that was diagnosed with low ring bone 3 yrs ago and it kept under control with Bute. But this past spring it has gotten considerably worse. He is just my backyard pet & has never sustained an injury to this leg for this to be an issue at his age. Is there any treatments, including shoeing, that can work?. I have spent countless dollars on supplements this past year and nothing seems to alleviate the pain. Any proven rememdies to help alleviate the pain. It is breaking my heart to see him in pain just walking in the pasture.

Answer 1

When our 9yr TB gelding was diagnosed with both low AND high ring bone, we thought his career was over. We started supplements with 10,000 mg of glucosamine per dose and got corrective shoeing. Have your farrier come out and look at his feet. We had pads and eggbutt shoes put on, and our TB is back to doing low straight bars. He will never be the 3ft jumper he was, but for him to be jumping is a miracle. I have heard of certain plants that can be a natural help to the joints. Try looking it up on Smartpak.com under their explanation of all the ingredients.  

Answer 2

Low ringbone is a bad deal.  It's more severe than high ringbone and the prognosis is worse.  There isn't much that can be done for it.  You cannot do the joint fusing surgery on  low ringbone, and he pastern joint does not respond much to injections unfortunately.  Corrective shoeing is usually recommended but will only do so much.  They farrier can try to relieve some pressure but then you affect the tendons, ligaments, and other joints.

A friend had a lovely paint mare, great bloodlines, awesome training, and she got low ringbone when she was 5.  My friend kept her for awhile, and did what she could to keep her comfortable but by the time she was 9 she was three-legged lame no matter how much bute she got, or anything.  She had to be put out of her misery, unfortunately.  It was such a loss but she just couldn't stand to see the mare in so much pain and it wasn't fair to the mare either.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this, and I'm sorry I don't have something more positive to say but the prognosis is not good for this affliction.

Answer 3

It is osteoarthritis of the coffin bone joint and it is progressive.  In people, osteoarthritic joints are replaced with prosthetic joints.  There is surgery for horses, which you could look into.  The farrier can shoe the horse to raise the heel to relieve pain.  the vet can inject the joint with hyaluronic acid or steroid hormone to reduce inflammation and pain.  I'm sure he can be helped by a combination such as shoeing and injections if surgery is not an option.  I know of no natural remedies for progressive osteoarthritis.