Any advice for horse slipping on road?

[HeadFairy]

we moved to a new yard in May, and my ottb can’t seem to walk on the path that leads to their school. Its concrete and a slope uphill. My horse has fallen twice now while going uphill. DD is completely freaked and has an anxiety attack every time we go out now. We had vet/chiro come and have a look, horse has lost a lot of top line recently, can’t find any source of pain to explain the muscle loss. We’re upping some feeds, adding in extra protein, amino acids and linseed. He’s on a daily bute for low level lameness which has kept him sound for over a year now. Before we X-ray we’re working on building back some muscle, but I’m still really worried about him slipping on the concrete. The vet felt he didn’t have enough power in his hind end, which is why he’s slipping on his fronts. He already had road pins, so I was thinking about shoe boots over his shoes to give him extra grip. Has anyone tried this, and does it work?

Speak again To your farrier see what other suggestions he may have

It's the concrete that's the issue on a shod horse, my dad's horses were banned from being ridden on concrete as it can be like ice.
I'd stick to the verge if there is one, get off and lead if not and maybe consider using field mats if possible.

I would say it’s not purely due to the concrete given his other issues. Grip wise barefoot would probably be best, even if he just has his hinds off. What are his feet like? I would be inclined to Xray first and find out what is happening if he has been on Bute for a year to keep him sound. Extra stuff in feeds doesn’t build muscle by itself - he needs to work to do that and I’d want to establish exactly what it is I’m dealing with.
when he gets the all clear then polework, growers, lateral work and hill work. Proper fittening - hours of walking / trotting out hacking will help then fast work up and down hills when he is stronger will encourage him to engage behind.

Grid work! Bloody autocorrect!!

What is the origin of the lameness ?

Combination of factors, backed at 1, raced and then in riding school (as the weight carrier!!) poor conformation. Vet feels it’s a case of managing it rather than anything else.

He’s gone fully lane every time he’s had his shoes off, he has really thin soles, typical tb feet. I might ask farrier about duplo shoes, but he’s got to have something.
we’ve rehabbed before, and managed to build muscle in the past. A big problem at our yard is the hill up to the school is concrete and like ice, he just can’t manage it, so we can’t get him into the school to do the grid work. We are looking for a new yard, but so many have closed near us, there are hardly any left.

hmm. Yep definitely see the issue! While looking for a new yard I’d probably try and utilise getting him really fit with a lot of hill work - not just spanking along but trotting/cantering engaged and balanced up hills and down (not on tarmac!!). I’m an old fashioned hunt groom I’m afraid, I firmly believe there isn’t much you can achieve in a school that you can’t get from working out hacking! Lots of transitions and some lateral work too.
thats where I’d be heading I think but I’d definitely be looking for a new yard if he’s struggling. See what your farrier suggests too.

Take the shoes off. If the horse struggles barefoot use hoof boots. Bare hooves have much better grip on concrete than shoes. Hoof boots are not as good as bare but better than shoes.

A barefoot trimmer will be able to support you with transition and may be able to help you select suitable boots in the right size. Many farriers dislike barefoot and boots but some are more open minded.

Removing my horse's shoes 13 years ago was the best thing I have done for her. She walks down our concrete ramp confidently while the shod horses slide around. She's also great in snow and ice and on slick tarmac.

Sorry just saw this, you need a barefoot friendly diet and hoof boots to manage wear. Mine had thin soles to the extent she was lame in shoes, proper diet and use of boots with EPS 4lb pads had her happy again and her feet improved to the extent we hunted barefoot for several years. She needs the boots more now she's older and has other issues.

Owner of many ex-racers here. They can frequently be weak behind but would also consider stifle/SI issue.
Rapid muscle loss I would look at ulcers and KS as first points of call.
Have you had blood work done?
You also need to work with a vet approved physio to create an in hand strengthening plan and improve proprioception etc. Will involve polework in hand, stretching exercises and long reining up and down hills in walk.

This isn't just a hoof issue, it's a skeletal and strength issue.
Just adding hoof boots won't solve your problem.

I don’t think I’d be riding this horse at all id be getting a full investigation to find out why he’s requiring Bute to be sound and if it does turn out to be just poor confirmation I’d be retiring him but I doubt it actually is .

Agreed. Needs full work up including xrays etc.

Coming back to this to say the vet is coming out today, we’re going to ask for full bloods and arrange for spine and SI X-rays. I’ve been long reining for a few weeks. I can see a tiny bit of topline coming back finally. We did discover the yard were giving him massive feeds, which have always led to weight loss in the past, so we’ve reduced feed size and increased to 4 small feeds a day, plus ad lib hay and 8 hours turn out a day in very hilly fields. Will update with the vet’s opinion when we have it.

That sounds like a good plan @HeadFairy but it’s good that you are seeing some improvement .

Yes horses can't digest more than a rugby ball of volume in feed. So 4 small feeds will help weight gain better than 2 large ones.

Yeah, I was shocked at the size of the feeds. Their other horses are all over 900kg percherons or Irish Draughts so I guess they were just used to massive feeds!