Ring Bone, any experience? Farriers?

A horse in my care has been diagnosed with ring bone. Hopefully the x-rays will be emailed to me tonight or tomorrow. I will post them as soon as I get them.

What the vet said is that the horse has "pretty bad" ring bone in the P3 and P2 bones in her foot. Her foot is slightly twisted and grows "wrong" from an injury as a yearling or foal. She's 5 now and has been lame at the trot since last April. She's fine walking on pasture and in the sand arena, but gimps a bit on gravel.

Her owner is fine with her being a pasture pet and a walk-only horse for little rides around the place. She's toying with the idea of breeding her (though I'm trying to discourage that...).

So, what can we do? The vet said joint injections aren't helpful in his experience. She's on MSM now and I'll put her on ActiFlex tomorrow. She's currently barefoot. What options should we consider for shoes, pads, etc. to help her be more comfortable and her foot more "stable"? Or should we leave her barefoot and trim more often? (she's on a 5-6 week shedule now) Any other supplements she should get? Pain management supplments?

She eats a grain-free diet currently with grass hay. For "feed" she gets a little alfalfa pellets, flax, and vitamins.

I would suggest bare foot trim if you can.
Shoes and leather pads or frog support pads if you have to.
Which ever keeps the horse more comfortable.
Also have to consider what the customer wants to do I have seen it work with both barefoot or shoes and pads.

She's all about whatever is best for the horse.

Hi..i own a shire x who has high and low ringbone in both fore feet..his management plan before I got him was shod up front with toe kept shorter to aid his breakover(farrier attended evey 6 weeks) and one sachet of bute per day (not alot of bute considering the size of him,he certainly takes after his mom who was full shire).although he did very well on this, my vet and farrier thought there was room for improvement as he was awkward getting downhill and when turning and he was short strided up front..over recent months we have put him on a mobility supplement containing glucosamine etc and devils claw and yucca,we pulled his front shoes and he has a barefoot trim (not just a paddock trim and my farrier still attends every 6 weeks)his bute is now down to half a sachet every other day, with the view,hopefully, to him coming off it completely..the day he had his shoes pulled I was waiting for him to tell me oh god no I can't do this,to my amazement his stride wasn't short any more,and when he turned he was less awkward and getting down the hill is now alot easier for him..he did go a little tight through his back, due to his new way of going but that settled very quickly..i have found that regular, gentle exercise(no lungeing or tight circles and no jumping) is better for him, I also have to keep an eye on his weight,he is on a forage based diet with a vitamin and mineral supplement..that is lennies case but as you know every horse is different and what works for one may not work for another..i have to say that having his shoes pulled has really helped him by not having the concussion and his feet being able to do the job they were designed for.if you have a farrier and vet that work well together and that you have a good relationship with(i have used my farrier for 12 yrs now) then trust there judgement.it's a case of management and not cure with ringbone and sadly I know that one day my gentle giants condition will start to deteriorate.i don't know if any of this is useful and i've probably waffled on (sorry) but it's no good me giving advice, as i'm no vet and each case is different but I just thought I would let you know my experience with the condition..