Barefoot and footsore at 15 - age or something else?

[SpizWiz]

My gelding has been barefoot all of his life, previously we did dressage up to elementary and lots of hacking and fun rides, now we hack mostly on roads for approximately 1-2 hours 3/4 days a week (weather and light permitting), and sometimes do a little flatwork at Prelim level.
He is currently fed hay ad lib and a handful of chaff for his joint supplement and is also on Previcox for stifle arthritis and a chipped pedal bone incident in November. Vet did not want to box rest or operate as the chip was so small and far enough away from the joint that he believed it would absorb eventually, and for the level of work that we do there wasn't much point as it is all very slow paced anyway. We have recently begun canter work and all is going well.

I have noted that he is much more footsore this year (including over winter not just recently with the grass coming through), with the only thing changing being this incident. However with it being both front feet I don't believe this is the underlying cause of the issue. He is turned out daily and happily runs about on the soft, likewise with schooling; he is happy in all paces. As soon as he steps onto the hard (more evident on rough than smooth tarmac) I can tell he is uncomfortable and will really slow down and pull to the verges instead of walking in the middle. We are in the process of being fitted for hoof boots for ridden work, but I'd obviously like him comfortable all of the time. I have filmed him walking and he is landing heel first, no bruising is visible (white feet) and no "notches" in his hoof wall to show any major inflammatory incidents, if anything it has been commented by our farrier that the angles of the feet are much better than a year ago. He is not overweight; can easily feel ribs, no neck crest and no fat pads etc and isn't sore after a trim.

My question really is age a factor in this; could he just be feeling it more and needs shoes (he is also slightly pigeon toed so have been wary of the added strain this might add, but again with his "light" activity levels, would this pose as big a problem as a competition horse)? - I have definitely thought that he looks a lot older to me the past year. Or am I looking at difficulty transitioning from winter to spring ground conditions and need to persevere/change management?
I'd have thought the Previcox would also aid with some of the discomfort, having been told by the vet that the horse dosage is the equivalent to 2 sachets of bute, but can't say that I feel any change.

 

[ester]

No IMO/E age isn’t a factor

I’d get a PPID test though

 

[paddi22]

yeah was just going to say the same. id a similar thing with a horse and it was Cushing. no other symptoms and still doesn't, it was purely the blood test showed he had it.

 

[SpizWiz]

No IMO/E age isn’t a factor

I’d get a PPID test though

yeah was just going to say the same. id a similar thing with a horse and it was Cushing. no other symptoms and still doesn't, it was purely the blood test showed he had it.

I don't want to be that paranoid owner and create symptoms to fit the diagnosis but this did cross my mind (possibly drinks a little more overnight, took slightly longer to change coats last year but then we have had very up/down seasons), is 15 young for this to be a possibility? I have never had experience of this so sorry for seemingly silly questions!
Assuming it was a positive diagnosis and he went on the pill, what does it do that helps with the soreness?

 

[LeneHorse]

Plenty of horses younger than 15 have been diagnosed with PPID. Mine was tested positive at 14 and is now 22. The footsore symptoms could be low grade laminitis. If your horse goes on to prascend medication this should help with this if you've caught it early. Of course the soreness could be due to something else but it is well worth doing the PPID test first, as it looks like a possibility based on what you've written. Good luck

 

[ester]

15 is not young for it
Medication usually resolves the hoof issues
Mine was tested at 19, 22ish and
24ish.

I’d absolutely want to rule it in or out for yours. It was the ‘looking a lot older recently’ comment that I was mostly picking up on.

 

[paddy555]

Assuming it was a positive diagnosis and he went on the pill, what does it do that helps with the soreness?

it doesn't always do anything. Mine had cushings and was diagnosed at 12 but had it a lot younger than that. 15 yo getting footsore I would be thinking of cushings. He may well still be footsore and will need boots. It didn't stop the sore feet on mine he needed boots. However if yours goes on to move towards laminitis you will have a better chance if he is on prascend and also with boots rather than shoes you will see it a lot more quickly.
Do you have muscle loss. Over the top line. That is another sign of cushings.

 

[SpizWiz]

it doesn't always do anything. Mine had cushings and was diagnosed at 12 but had it a lot younger than that. 15 yo getting footsore I would be thinking of cushings. He may well still be footsore and will need boots. It didn't stop the sore feet on mine he needed boots. However if yours goes on to move towards laminitis you will have a better chance if he is on prascend and also with boots rather than shoes you will see it a lot more quickly.
Do you have muscle loss. Over the top line. That is another sign of cushings.

15 is not young for it
Medication usually resolves the hoof issues
Mine was tested at 19, 22ish and
24ish.

I’d absolutely want to rule it in or out for yours. It was the ‘looking a lot older recently’ comment that I was mostly picking up on.

Plenty of horses younger than 15 have been diagnosed with PPID. Mine was tested positive at 14 and is now 22. The footsore symptoms could be low grade laminitis. If your horse goes on to prascend medication this should help with this if you've caught it early. Of course the soreness could be due to something else but it is well worth doing the PPID test first, as it looks like a possibility based on what you've written. Good luck

Thanks all, vet booked for next week. No loss of topline that I wouldn't think would be associated with being out of work for most of winter and his other issues meaning we don't work very hard anymore. Have also started soaking hay until we get results just in case...

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I don't want to be that paranoid owner and create symptoms to fit the diagnosis but this did cross my mind (possibly drinks a little more overnight, took slightly longer to change coats last year but then we have had very up/down seasons), is 15 young for this to be a possibility? I have never had experience of this so sorry for seemingly silly questions!
Assuming it was a positive diagnosis and he went on the pill, what does it do that helps with the soreness?

15 is definitely not too young, I would recommend having the TRH-Stim test to be sure that yo have the correct test result. IE the ACTH test doesn't always give an accurate result. The Prascend helps to moderate the symptoms, so if being footsore is one of your horses symptoms it would help.

 

[paddy555]

15 is definitely not too young, I would recommend having the TRH-Stim test to be sure that yo have the correct test result. IE the ACTH test doesn't always give an accurate result. The Prascend helps to moderate the symptoms, so if being footsore is one of your horses symptoms it would help.

I wondered about writing the above. I had one tested recently (because it was free and vet was drawing blood for something else). Vet told me it was not the best time to test and Autumn would be better.
I had 2 very inaccurate ACTH results. (another horse) Dangerously inaccurate in my case. I knew the horse had cushings despite the test results and insisted on a prascend trial which proved I was right.

I said to my vet that if I wanted to test any of mine in the future. I would be using the TRH test. He agreed of course but seemed to think it unnecessary and it would cost more.

 

[Birker2020]

Ringbone and coffin joint arthritis are more common with pigeon toed horses and at 15 if he's had a busy life, which is sounds like he has he could have an arthritic issue particularly as he favours the softer going. My mare is pigeon toed but this is due to her neck arthritis which impacts on this foot.

Sometimes a chipped pedal bone can turn arthritic too although it seems minimal chance of this happening for the reasons your vet mentioned.

I'd get the vet to take a look if you are going ahead with the PPID test.

 

[SpizWiz]

Ringbone and coffin joint arthritis are more common with pigeon toed horses and at 15 if he's had a busy life, which is sounds like he has he could have an arthritic issue particularly as he favours the softer going. My mare is pigeon toed but this is due to her neck arthritis which impacts on this foot.

Sometimes a chipped pedal bone can turn arthritic too although it seems minimal chance of this happening for the reasons your vet mentioned.

I'd get the vet to take a look if you are going ahead with the PPID test.

He had his feet xr-rayed in Dec and nothing commented on RE ring bone/coffin joints. They were also happy with the angles.

PPID bloods came back at 12 so well under the range to be considered for medication.

 

[Birker2020]

He had his feet xr-rayed in Dec and nothing commented on RE ring bone/coffin joints. They were also happy with the angles.

.

that's all very positive then