Q.
What would you recommend for horses suffering from thin soles? My older quarter horse gelding has really thin soles and laminitis (the vet thinks). I found a wonderful certified natural barefoot trimmer who is now trimming my horses and I am thrilled with him. I have also changed his diet to more natural sources and have seen a difference.

A. (Dr. Joyce Harman)
Thin soles can come from several causes. Whether he has laminitis currently or had it in the past cannot be determined from your email. Many farriers trim the sole too much and this can be problem. On a barefoot horse, thin soles should not be trimmed much at all, especially at the toe. The bars and sole in the back part of the foot should not be trimmed in an effort to make the sole concave, which is another common practice. The sole will change shape as the foot becomes healthier. Free choice minerals without added salt (salt can be fed separately) will improve hoof quality (one source is Advanced Biological Concepts). Homeopathics and Chinese herbs can be helpful if you find a practitioner.

Q.
What age is appropriate to wean a foal and what approach do you recommend?

A. (Dr. Joyce Harman)
Weaning foals can be done at any age after about four months, providing the mare is in good shape and is not imparting any bad behaviors to the foal. In nature the mare would probably wean the baby by about nine months, as she is preparing to have another foal. The mare’s milk provides little significant nutrition past about four months and some mares will lose quite a bit of weight carrying a large foal. Weaning can be done with the mare and foal next to each other in paddocks, if the fences are safe and the foal has learned some independence (leading it away from the mare, riding the mare, leaving the foal behind, etc). If you use this “fence line” weaning, it’s still a good idea, after they do not seem to care about each other much, to make the break complete by removing one of them so they really cannot see or hear each other. After about a month of separation they usually can be reunited without any problem. To make the transition easier, add 10 drops of the Bach Flower remedy Walnut (for emotional change) to the mare’s and foal’s water and give the homeopathic remedy Ignatia 30 K or CH (for grief from loss) once or twice a day for a few days or longer if either one is having trouble adjusting. Ignatia dose: foal 2-3 pellets, mare 6-8, given in a little handful of feed.

Q.
Occasionally my horse will have his head down eating grass and have a wheezing sound as he breathes in. Can he have nasal congestion as we can? He does not have any discharge from his nostrils. Should I be concerned about the wheezing? It is not constant.

A. (Dr. Chris King)
Yes, a horse can develop nasal congestion (swelling in the lining of the nasal passages) when his head is down. However, it is not common and usually is associated with some type of hypersensitivity reaction to something he’s inhaled or otherwise come in contact with.

There are several other causes for abnormal breathing noises during inspiration. They range from the benign to the scary. To know which one you may be dealing with and how it is best managed, you’d need to have his upper airways properly evaluated using endoscopy and radiography.

As your boy’s wheezing is inconsistent, it puts allergy among the top contenders. I’d suggest you start noting the circumstances under which you hear the wheezing noise. For example, is it with just a certain patch of grass or just at certain times of year? Are you noticing it more frequently as time goes on? These tidbits of information can be very important in determining what is causing the noise and what, if anything, needs to be done about it.

Other questions asked and answered in this issue.

Q.
My gray 22-year-old Arabian has a sarcoid on his shoulder that is not growing noticeably, and what I call nodules under the skin on the underside of his tail. Do you recommend he take anything for this? Does he feel any pain from these?

Q.
I have a question regarding natural dewormers. What products do you recommend, and do you know of any studies that show statistics?

Q.
What would help my 19-year-old thoroughbred’s loose stools? They are very soft and watery, and when he passes gas, brown liquid oozes out and runs down his back legs. He also had several severe colic episodes the last year at the center, but none since he has lived with me. He’s had no vaccines the last year and his stools have been negative for worms.

He’s eating about 1/3 pound of oats with a little rice bran, flax, supplements twice a day plus free choice grass hay. He looks a little too thin now and I am concerned with winter approaching. I did try some slippery elm bark.