Barefoot 10 years but suddenly struggling?

heebiejeebies

heebiejeebies

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Hi all,

My horse has been happily barefoot for nearly ten years. I moved yards in December 2012 and for the first time introduced roadwork. I was all set for facing major problems, he was a bit footy but nothing really worth taking much notice over and he quickly got over it and has been fine since.

We hack mainly on roads, though do a bit of every terrain. We are out at least 5 days a week for one hour, and maybe once a week if I can get childcare we manage a 7 mile ride which takes about 2-3 hours, depending on how much messing around we do!

In the past couple of months though he has really started struggling, even on the drive from the field to the stables which he does every single day. It started out just being a bit footy in front, but now he is stumbling, tripping at the back, and his beautiful extended Arab trot has turned into somewhat of a shetland pony trot!

I'm confused because there is no heat in any of his feet, and he has had over a year with no problems now all of a sudden he seems crippled after fifteen minutes.

He is fed a handful of hi fi molasses free and half a scoop of speedi beet every day, never had laminitis (he is 15) and the grass here isn't through yet so they are still getting hay in the field. Once the grass is through I stop the bucket feed.

Can anyone help?
 
I would be surprised if the issue here was his hoof wearing down too quickly (unless of course you've upped his workload or taken something out of his feed). Could it be to do with something further up than his feet, like achy joints, for example? Have his feet been 'balanced' recently by a good farrier, maybe the uneven wear is only just starting to catch up with him?
 
Thanks for your reply! They get trimmed every three-four months and do well with this, I do a lot of road work with my horses and so they all keep trimmed with all the tarmac. What do you mean by being 'balanced' by the farrier?

He lives out 24/7 as he does get very stiff and his hind legs fill if he is stabled for too long, and he shows no signs of struggling in the field, where he happily runs around daft with the others! I've noticed he is pulling towards grass verges as well which he has never done up until now.

Haven't changed his feed either, he has been on what I mentioned all winter. I only bucket feed my lot from when the grass disappears to when it reappears, then its adlib grass and hay if stabled!
 
The unexplained footiness could well be your first symptom. I would check for Cushings too.
Also, in that you have recently introduced road work and your horse suffers with stiffness..could it be related to that? He may be ok on soft ground because of les jarring perhaps...
 
_HP_ said:
The unexplained footiness could well be your first symptom. I would check for Cushings too.
Also, in that you have recently introduced road work and your horse suffers with stiffness..could it be related to that? He may be ok on soft ground because of les jarring perhaps...
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But we have been doing roadwork for around a year with no problems, the problems have just started in the past couple of months or so!
 
OP you mentioned you changed yards Dec 2012, so you have been at the current yard for over a year?

I agree with the other posters Cushings (PPID) should definitely be tested for and hopefully ruled out.

Sub clinical laminitis or worse are not unusual at this time of year.

If he were mine I would take remove from grass and feed soaked hay for a few days and see if the footiness improves. Although the longer they have been footy the longer it may take to improve.
 
LucyPriory said:
OP you mentioned you changed yards Dec 2012, so you have been at the current yard for over a year?

I agree with the other posters Cushings (PPID) should definitely be tested for and hopefully ruled out.

Sub clinical laminitis or worse are not unusual at this time of year.

If he were mine I would take remove from grass and feed soaked hay for a few days and see if the footiness improves. Although the longer they have been footy the longer it may take to improve.
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Yes been here for just over a year now.
I can't remove him from the grass as he gets very stressed when stabled which in turn makes his ulcers a lot worse. He really has to be out grazing in the herd 24/7. I have a muzzle on standby for when the grass comes through!
 
heebiejeebies said:
What do you mean by being 'balanced' by the farrier?
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I mean have they been trimmed to correct any uneven wear. Even if a horse's hoof isn't too long, it sometimes still needs trimming just to level it off because some parts of the hoof have worn down more than others, making the hoof unlevel on the ground. My part loan was tripping a lot when he needed his hooves levelling off because he wasn't sufficiently wearing down the sides of his front hooves, which caused them to splay and split. He hadn't had his feet trimmed in 3 years, but the minimal uneven wear gradually imbalanced his hoof so that by summer last year he was due for a trim.
 
DreamingIsBelieving said:
I mean have they been trimmed to correct any uneven wear. Even if a horse's hoof isn't too long, it sometimes still needs trimming just to level it off because some parts of the hoof have worn down more than others, making the hoof unlevel on the ground. My part loan was tripping a lot when he needed his hooves levelling off because he wasn't sufficiently wearing down the sides of his front hooves, which caused them to splay and split. He hadn't had his feet trimmed in 3 years, but the minimal uneven wear gradually imbalanced his hoof so that by summer last year he was due for a trim.
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I see what you mean now, had never thought about this! My farrier is very pro-barefoot, so I would imagine he would have mentioned if something was a miss. I will perhaps get him out first before I go down the route of testing for cushings, it may well be something like this!
 
I'd speak to your vet as there's a whole host of possible explanations. Start of cushings in one but it could be something joint related (esp if he already has stiffness in other areas) or something like sidebone / ringbone?
 
Sent farrier pics of his feet and he wants to put shoes on. He's saying that because we do roadwork 5 times a week that's enough to make any horse sore. I might be being naive here but the pony does just as much road work and isn't sore, and aren't hooves supposed to harden to the work they are put through?
Obviously if I am in the wrong here and he does need shoes then yes he will get shoes, but I'm really just looking for some advice!

LF

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LH

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RF

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RH

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Sorry the quality is a bit rubbish!
 
I'm not an expert on such things and sure others will have more useful things to say.

First thought is have you treated for thrush recently. Dunno if it's just the way photo was taken but LF especially looks to have quite a deep cleft in it and frogs on both left feet look a bit pathetic compated to on the right.

Also again no expert on foot balance but the LH looks like it's spread more to the side where the hand is holding it (inside I'm presuming?) as if it tends to bear more weight down that side maybe but that could just be angle of photo playing tricks I guess?
 
Maybe its the amount of wet weather we've had. That would make the hooves very soft and could cause soreness when doing road work. My friends horse was barefoot for years, then suddenly started getting very footsore on the road to a stage where he didn't want to go out. She got advice from her farrier (same farrier who was happy to do bare foot or shoes) to put fronts on him and he's been fine ever since.
 
It has been so wet here, the field is boggy so he is standing in wet 24/7. I hadn't thought of thrush, as there's no smell? The frogs are very spongy though, so would it be worth treating for it anyway? I'm sure I have a bottle of frog wash.

I've asked another farrier to come out for a second opinion!
 
treat for thrush but almost certainly due to the amount of water there is laying about this year. Have seen a couple of horses at our yard suffer as well with the same issue and it was due to the feet being softer due to the wet ground
 
spike123 said:
treat for thrush but almost certainly due to the amount of water there is laying about this year. Have seen a couple of horses at our yard suffer as well with the same issue and it was due to the feet being softer due to the wet ground
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Thank you, will do. Is there anything else I can do to avoid having him shod? We will never avoid wet ground here in Scotland, so I'm worried if this is the cause then it's just going to keep happening! Is shoeing the best option?
 
You always could try a hoof hardener like NAF Rock Hard or something similar to see if that helps. I've no personal experience using them but some people seem to think they work so maybe worth a try? It'd be a shame to have to put shoes on now when he's done well without for so long.
I don't know enough to make anything from the pictures myself but if his frogs are very spongy then I would be looking to harden his hooves in some way or another whether he's wearing shoes or not.
Actually, just a thought, but is it possible that shoeing could actually make the problem worse as shod hooves collect and hold in more mud than unshod hooves?
 
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