Any farriers out there or anyone else who has had a horse with
ringbone? I'm trying to decide whether or not to continue with bar
shoes on my horse. He's retired, no longer ridden, and the vet
recently diagnosed him with ringbone, trying to determine if it is
high or low. I thought low, she said she couldn't remember, so I'm
waiting for clarification on that. Anyway, 9 years ago he was
diagnosed with navicular, hence, the bar shoes. But that seemed to
level out and he was sound for years, then this latest lameness
started about a year ago, and the vet did nerve blocks and said it
wasn't navicular , but ringbone.

I noticed last time the farrier was out, my horse didn't hesitate at
all to lift his opposite front foot when his shoes were off, but if
you try to lift the opposite foot when he has shoes on, he doesn't
want to. This leads me to think he's more comfortable without the
shoes. My farrier was very non-committal when I tried to pin him down
to an answer about continueing the shoeing. He has the lameness in
the left front and doesn't like to lift the right front because I
assume it puts pressure on the bad foot, but like I said, with shoes
off, he didn't hesitate.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I need to decide by next week. I
also have a call out to the vet for her opinion but quite honestly, I
don't think vets know alot about shoeing in the first place.

Sorry this is so long, and I appreciate any answers. Thanks. Rose