Any farriers or vets on here- need some advice?

Gingerwitch

Gingerwitch

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I am playing a waiting game at the moment and it is killing me - my little lad went lame this time last year with lamness to the soft tissue to the hoof - i have spent 12 months box resting, paddock resting, turning away and light work, building up finally till last week when we were upto an hour in walk - about to introduce trot this weekend if the ground was good.

Shod on Thur - after shoeing farrier waited to see me.... he had run early so i was not at yard when he was shod - and he said he was noticably lame - and to call him that night or next day if i was worried - he is hobbling the first two strides and then appears to "walk it off" but his hoof placement is real weird - its almost like he is going mid foot, heel, then slams down toe. Friday farrier calls into see him..... better than thur but not good.... i get to yard late and he is big style lame for first few strides... loads of heat in hoof... another farrier on site, he checks the little lad for me - save me calling out my normal farrier - no sole pressure and tells me to leave him shod as he thinks he may be feeling the "heat" from the burning.... today he is well lame again.... my farrier comes out again - hoof tests him - nothing. Decide to leave him as he is until Monday - then get him back or vet out... both me and farrier are worried sick... he did take loads of growth off him - shod after 6 weeks this time, rather than the normal 5, so has indicated that maybe the foot balance was changed too much in one go? - i will gladly pay for shoeing every 3 weeks if necessary so cost is not a problem - i just want my lad back sound again.

Am i just being a pesimist? am i thinking the worst because of a "normal" issue that occassionly happens - now i am not going to slag me farrier off - if he has made a mistake then so be it - things like this can happen - not nice but it certainly wasnt intentional - he has been back to the yard 3 times at the drop of a hat - has offered to come out again tomorrow if i am worried or Monday.... so credit where its due - he could have washed his hands of the situation...

I am contacting my vet on Monday - the one whom has seen him from the begining of this foot lameness - but in the meantime any experiance of anything similar
 
I don't have any similar experience but I didn't want to just read and not respond. You are not having much luck and I really hope you can get to the bottom of what's causing this as soon as possible. I will watch with interest for updates, good luck on Monday.
 
appylass - thank you - I have not had a month free of vets bills since the day i brought him - typical tb gelding - trouble all the time, leg the size of a whale at a tiny cut etc - but tonight i honestly just want to sit down and sob my heart out - we were doing so well - he is a proper firestorm - into everything always hitting you with buckets etc.... just had a heart to heart with hubby - and my sensible head is saying - enough is enough pts and move on - but my heart says- he deserves his little life and if he is sound enough to go in a field and roll in the mud and the clover then who am i to take away his little world.... then my head kicks in and says.... he will live for another 15 or so years - and here you are again with a very expensive hamster... and your riding dreams are on the back burner yet again.

ah well - he isn't going anywhere unless he is in pain, so suppose i had better start saving for one i can ride and jump and gallop.
 
I am neither vet nor farrier but unfortunately have long experience of a horse with soft tissue damage in front feet:( When he was shod (by a rotten farrier who we got rid of) he was cut too short and was lame for 10 days with heat in the foot for the first week. He would even be uncomfortable if his foot balance was altered a little so everything was done very slowly and frequently - 5 week shoeing etc. I would get the vet to talk to the farrier. If you leave him in and rest him he probably will last until Monday and I personally would give some bute morning and evening as I cannot bear to see them in discomfort - but - only if I had my vets previous permission to do this.

Has your horse had an MRI? Soft tissue damage is long hard road and not always a happy outcome but search on here and you may find some helpful info.

Good luck.
 
Thank you misst - he is stood in a HUGE bed of straw - trying not to give him bute as if i do he will forget he is in pain and do the wall of death routine round the stable - i would laugh but it is so upsetting to watch and tbh the vet will be here before i put the phone down on Monday - he is really good.

No we have not MRI'd as yet - it was our next option to send to newmarket but £3.5k of lameness work up will buy a new horse and wont fix the broken one so last year me and hubby decided to play the wait game.

Typical of my luck - the farrier comented on how well his feet had grown, and his horn quality was much much better than last year - added to that the Chrismas break meant he has gone a long 6 weeks rather than his short 5 - has probably been the worst case senario (sp) - ok we can all live and learn - but i just feel so disspondent today - i really thought we had turned a huge corner and 2011 was going to be a vet free year - ha ha ha - hes still managing to make me spend on him in Jan as its the 31st on Mon and you pay at the time of visit with my vets

x
 
I do honestly know exactly how you feel. At the end of the day MRI doesn't cure anything only tell you a good picture of what is really going on. I personally do not believe it works for every horse (I know lots of people will disagree and say that is not true, but I am not up for an argument) but have you considered taking his shoes off and turning him away for a long time? I really am not a "barefoot advocate" for everyone - did not do it for ours... but it may be worth looking at. It costs nothing to investigate and may be the answer for you.

I am so sorry for you it brings back such heartbreaking memories. That nasty sick feeling in the pit of your stomach and the fear before you watch them move every day. Whatever happens (((hugs))) I hope this is just a "blip". Bloody TBs - why have them?? Best horses in the world:D
 
Probably lots going on there.

But your answers are all in the second paragraph of your original post.

You need to step back and look at the big picture, and re think what you're doing.

Sorry - might not be what you want to hear
 
I have checked out Nic's place, got the info, and yes it is an option - and one that will remain open to me.... it will be his last chance saloon - so to speak and i will happily pack him off there if necessary BUT i worry that he will get into too much trouble with other horses - i am just about happy turning him out with one other .... he is definatly one for the ladies and thats what got him into this mess in the first place.

but thanks for the information - thanks to everyone whom has replied - it does help to know others have been here - it does not solve the issue but my poor hubby does not know what to do with me as i am still coming to terms in loosing my gingerwitch last year.... so tbh tonight i wish i had never set eyes on horses let alone brought them !

GW
x
 
Out of curiosity what is your horse fed? I only ask because I have had similar problems with my mare. She had a core lesion in her DDFT behind the navicular bone and although came sound, was then lame on and off a lot and I often nearly gave up. I have eventually discovered that if I manage her very carefully like a laminitc (although she never actually has had proper 'lamnitis' ) then she remains sound!! She is muzzled when at grass from April to November and is only fed hay and happy hoof. Haylage can make her very footsore and short striding with a couple of days. Also we've had a few very mild days recently and the grass must have grown and has had a noticeable effect on her stride length. Might be a worth a try if nothing else is helping.
 
what was the difinitive diagnosis last year? yes he could be foot sore from a set of shoes though would expect that to wear off in a few days. i see you havent gone down the mri route, but you have x rays?? what is his condition like? his diet? etc
 
i have had a similar experience, my horse has navicular and one time when he was shod he had alot taken off and had his toe taken back alot, he was mildy sedated when being shod as he had his teeth done. once the sedation had worn off he could barely walk, farrier came back out at 8pm and took the nails out the front of the shoes and seated it out at the toe, his toes were very bruised. they were just abit brutal with his feet. He now doesnt wear shoes as he keeps pulling them off and coming up short. Since going barefoot his general foot condition has impoved but its early days.
 
yes we have had x rays and they were inconclusive - he is in egg bar shoes, with equipac for the first 3 months, and we were just about to change him back to normal shoes.... typical - he is on good grass, fed hay, good doer, carrots and a handful of calm and condition every day - (he gets good doer as my other horse is a bit fat and the amount of work the little lad is in he does not need hard feed so its just a token amount).

He has somehow got a cut to his opposite knee so his leg has blown up like a balloon this morn so its very difficult to see what is going on with his "lame leg" - not happy but have turned out to move some of the swelling in his balloon leg as its minus 3 here and i dont think the yard manager will be a happy sole if i ruin the hose pipe and flood the yard.

On the positive side - i will get my monies worth out of the vet visit tomorrow !
 
ding-dong

Just do it. Call Nic. Tell her Bruce bullied you into calling her :D

Short cut all the other things that probably just won't work and will cost you a fortune.

Nic will manage the turnout and she has good facilities for segregating the equine socially challenged :) (I can say that because I have one too)

It will save you a lot of money and a lot of frustration.

Honestly, from what you say it sounds like your farrier has not been doing you any favours.
 
Ding dong merrily- am I right in thinking we exchanged PMs under a non xmas name.

If so you know Frankies history. I did have a couple of occasions where he took a downturn after shoeing, he iimproved within some days and we tried again. One time the farrier took more off the toe than he could cope with and we had to wait for it to grow back, but on 2 other occasions there was nothing obvious, it just seemed like the act of shoeing or rebalancing upset something.
The other thing I found was at some point I would take the work level or more often the turnout too high and would be back to square one.
So none of what you are saying sounds unfamiliar.

Btw. While I wouldn't describe Frankie as socially challenged exactly he sightly over enthusiastic and I can honestly say he had less injuries while he was at Rockley than anywhere else. It was my last resort too.
 
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