Barefoot and shorter striding????

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BethH

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Hi

Took my horse barefoot in April, he has coped amazingly for the most part and new hoof capsule is now is about 2/3rds grown and he has remained sound and in work - but.... I have noticed over time he has gradually shortened his stride. I know all the ligaments change but he seems to be not as forward going and shorter striding. He is regularly checked but seems to be going through waves of looking very tight and stiff. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and if it is a normal part of his transition?
 
Ok, it could be thrush, it could be that he needs physio as he's carrying himself differently or it could be nothing to do with his shoe status or lack of.

Is arthritis a possibility ? My lad had a shortened stride, reluctant to go forwards and days when he was really stiff at the back. Just started treatment and the improvement so far is huge.
 
Hi thanks for reply - the idea of arthritis does rear its ugly head, but he is sound, he just seems to be going through waves of stiffness but the shorter stride seems to have become quite permanent even though he seems to be elevating slightly better! I am very o.t.t about getting him checked as he had a kissing spine op aged 7 and has been great since, but you never quite know if anything else is lurking! He has just turned 14 so i can see that maybe he could have a little wear and tear from the ks even though we have tried to be very sympathetic with how he is ridden & I have been amazed that nothing else has turned up, but it is the shortened front end stride that's bothering me, like he can't extend them, hoping its a normal transition not something that taking him barefoot has shown up?...........
 
If barefoot is causing this then something is not right. It could be something completely unrelated, like aging bringing on arthritis. But if it's the feet, this is not normal.
 
Have you had the vet test the feet with hoof testers to see if there's any discomfort I agree with the post above if anything my horses are more extravagant BF .
 
My mare is shorter striding now in front as a result of osteoarthritis in a knee joint, the upper limb is extending as far forward as you'd expect but the lower limb is not and I feel as though she's using neck/pectoral muscles to control movement of the lower limb through a shorter range of motion than is normal. She also loads the outside of the limb. Being barefoot helped free her up initially and her feet are in reasonable shape (albeit still in transition) but I am struggling to work out how to get her to use a greater range of motion. Is your horse landing toe first?
 
Hi thank you all for your posts. Have to be honest I am gutted as I though he would end up more mobile all round and the short striding seemed to start when the farrier/apprentice mullered his heels which is why I took him bare foot as I thought it would resolve itself when he grew a new hoof with proper balance. He had been landing toe first which I think has improved to landing flat although I need to video it and slow it down again and he lost all of his muscle in a short space of time when the shoeing went really wrong particularly over his bum and especially his chest. He did initially when the shoes came off seem to move heaps better and all of his muscle has come back so he is clearly much improved but has shortened his front end stride again. It was suggested to me that the ligaments have shortened as his feet have changed but I thought he would work through it and although he is and has always been sound he is looking not himself. I don't think its thrush as he has never suffered from it and I have cleaned and sprayed his feet religiously, and he seemes to be lifting as in a little more elevated but just like you hen I cannnot work out how to get him to stretch when he moves. I have never needed boots as from day 1 he has pretty much coped with every surface, it's just I keep noticing it a lot in the school especially when I am long reining and can watch him from the ground, he just doesn't seem as forward as he used to be. I guess if I am being honest I am scared of calling the vet as he isn't lame and they just seem to send them off for scanning at the drop of a hat and generally dislike barefoot (sweeping generalisation I know!) so I am worried it will be blamed on not shoeing him. He has been through enough in his life and I don't really want him prodded about un-necessarily. I can't quite believe I just wrote that!
 
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1) What is he eating?

2) How old is he?

3) When did this start?

4) Has he seen a body worker recently?

5) Has his saddle been checked recently? BF horses often need a wider saddle.

6) Is there even a remote chance he has ulcers?

7) Has anything else changed (field/water supply/workload/womer/vaccines/tack)

8) Does he flinch when you squeeze his frogs/sole hard?

9) Is he better or worse post trim?

If you have any pics of the hooves - please feel free to pm them to one of us and we'll see if there's anything we can spot that may be pertinent.
 
Hi Oberon. All very valid points. He has always been utterly sugar free as is a maniac on mix! He is 14, saw a body worker Sunday who is a friend, I asked her to check him as a fresh pair of eyes as she hasn't seen him since shoes came off (my chiro last checked him 3mths ago and said he felt super but he was showing shorter striding at this point hence I thought he would just work through it) friend said he was tight top of front legs and a back hamstring which is all new. I will get saddle checked again but it is well fitted re his KS so am very careful, I am starting to wonder re ulcers, he has started chewing his lead rope and grabbing his rug rail when he comes in - have had him 10yrs, he has never done this before but we are finding the grass a bit odd this year. He had also started hovering slight above the bit he has used since a 6yr old so I changed him to the myler which has a sleeve on the snaffle and it has made no difference. I did think teeth, but they were only done a 2mths ago by a vet who is a qualified EDT and he said all was fine so I feel I am getting all these little little markers that something has changed but I can't work out what and am started to wonder if he has a structural problem in one of his front legs that pulling the shoes has shown up - hence my fear of calling the vet! He has always been great with hoof testers we have a DAEP on the yard who checks him if I am worried and he said he puts enormous pressure on his hooves and Ryan takes no notice, he is always sound after a trim (except when I posted that once he had been very sore after frog was tidied - spoke to his trimmer and he has been fine ever since). I am learning a lot from having him barefoot but wondering if he is undergoing changes that he is finding hard to cope with. He seems to like his jaw having the equissage on it which is odd and a physio has told me that if he is sore in front it can transfer to the jaw so it would all make sense. A lot of rambling there which I hope may make some sense?
 
Can I suggest that you flexion test his hind legs yourself. He is a prime age for starting arthritic changes and the hicks go more often than anything else. They are easy to do on back legs.

If he's having trouble pushing from behind it might cause stiffness anywhere.
 
Hi Cp - Thank you - I will try that - it is utterly frustrated as he did his best ever dressage test a couple of weeks ago and felt very comfortable to ride, he desn't feel at all lame, but it is almost as though because he is becoming more restrained in his movement, he is being more obedient, and he has hugely improved his downward transitions which would involve him usng his hocks more and there is no swelling or heat around them as I have been panicking about mild spavins given the KS history but they seem fine. He is being terribly confusing, I will try the flexion test to see if it is coming from behind but the back legs seem to be pushing fine it just isn't translating into him stretching out his front legs.............
 
BethH said:
All very valid points.
Click to expand...

It can often be that we have thought of everything but that ONE small thing that turns out to be the key.

It's happened to me often when I've been wracking my brain and tearing myself apart. Then someone suggests something simple I've missed. I feel like such an idiot :p

BethH said:
I am starting to wonder re ulcers, he has started chewing his lead rope and grabbing his rug rail when he comes in - have had him 10yrs, he has never done this before but we are finding the grass a bit odd this year.
Click to expand...

I'll send you some ulcer info on a couple of pm's to look at. Mal-absorption via an unhappy gut will show up in the hooves and also muscular pain in the body.

As an aside - I wonder if he has some poll and TMJ pain? It's very common in horses.
It can affect the sternomandibular and brachiocephalicus muscles, which can result in a shorter stride at the front.
 
I wondered if he was tight in his shoulder muscles, but as you have had a body worker I assume not, although to be fair I have a massage lady look at my horse and say he was fine, then got out a chiro as i thought he felt shocking, his shoulder muscles were very sore.
Although i do think its odd about the equisager with your horse, wonder if he has an abcess or a cracked tooth or something?
 
Thank you all so much for your replies, and Oberon, that info re ulcers is incredibly interesting, if he has a mild case that is causing the rail chewing and is affecting his muscles that might well make sense. I think I might call the vet that is also the EDT, have a chat and if need be, get him to come out and double check his teeth to check he hasn't done something daft and at the same time he could give me some advice re whether his behaviour could be related to ulcers, Ryan has always had a very simple diet and is on 100% fibre but maybe something is making him feel stressed and causing other problems. The vet isn't particularly a fan of barefoot but I think I can be very categoric and say that Ryan has breezed the transition from shoes but there are a few odd things he is doing and I would like him checked over. My friend is going to see him again on Sunday and really go over his front end to loosen him off but he has been a bit grumpy especially the last few days which is really out of character so maybe there are a couple of different things going on which is why i can't get to the bottom of it.
 
Thank you - you are very kind, we had our 10th anniversary a couple of weeks ago - I have to say I am constantly stunned by how much he has and continues to teach me! He hasn't changed from being an utter pickle since he was 4 tho!
 
Oh gawd well posting update as now feeling really quite anxious - my little man is def an unhappy boy, have now called in vet as physio person can't get to me until 7th Nov and is the only one I trust to do the cranial stuff but he has been really quite grumpy. Now thinking a couple of things going on - that he has tweaked himself so physio def req'd - he escaped from his field a couple of weeks ago as the grass was greener the other side and when someone went to catch him he apparently legged it round the farm so wondering if he slipped for starters as gound was slightly slippery.

The vet has been down and given his mouth a good check and all is fine but she agrees he seems restricted in front leg movement which has concerned me for a long time now, she thinks feet not knees or shoulders - if so thank goodness I got rid of the shoes! so we are now on a bute trial for 2 wks to see if he starts to move better and cheers up!!! On bute he now has a decent overtrack in walk and on day 3 of 2 bute a day (yesterday) he felt much more fwd and relaxed and a bit more like my old horse. I am now panicking and thinking the worse that he has something wrong like arthritus in his feet - also my friend who gave him a massage suggested he had quite tight hamstrings and barefoot friend suggested maybe 6mths in, he has ligament changes going on????? Can this still be happening 6 mths on and when we video'd him, he is still landing flat (am improvement from toe first for sure) and not heel first yet - am so worried that the KS as a baby and bad farriery has knackered him at 14, he has been so brave with his lot in life so far!!!!... Next step - scanning & xrays of his feet at the clinic if physio/chiro doesn't sort it, I have promised he won't have to go through anything major again so am feeling a bit sick right now!
 
You're doing so well in trying to get to the bottom of all this. One thing I would say is please don't overlook use of boots even though you say he's transitioned well, he could be showing some sensitivity in the hoof. I'm using them on my boy now after I had removed his back shoes and used nothing for four weeks. Noticed shortening of stride, being 'footy' and a grump picking up hooves (he's new to me). Barefoot trimmer said the hinds were inflammed and had no heel structure so strongly recommended I get some boots with pads, stop riding, put him on hardstanding with boots on for four hours a day and walk in hand in his boots for thirty mins a day. Within ten days he is striding out nicely in his Jimmy Choos as I call them and I can pick his feet up without a struggle. Have you got a barefoot trimmer? What's their advise? Wish you luck in resolving this!
 
Hi thanks for reply - trimmer saw him yesterday and got the hoof testers out - as suspected he went to 3.5 on the testers without even flinching, no soreness with heels, sole or frog, feet look fantastic so am convinced it isn't the barefoot bit that's the problem - only thing the trimmer said was the front left leg which was the most messed up one constantly wants to grow across to the inside, he said when you look closely at the foot the growth rings show its trying to tug itself across to the right hand side of the foot if that makes sense - any ideas why this could be????? Surely must mean something mechanically wrong??? We are now 10 days into the bute trial and it hasn't really impacted, there is no change to his front stride and he just looks like he can't be bothered with it all which is most unlike my very forward, slightly over enthusiastic horse! Roll on the body worker - but if that doesn't work then I am guessing it's Xray time although comments about tight shoulders and knee arthritis are clanging more bells with me than the vet suggesting feet. She has said she can xray to check the balance of the foot can anyone shed any light on what she would be looking for?
 
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