sherry90
Well-Known Member
So my gelding has been barefoot most of his 6 years.
He had a short stint in shoes in 2018 after he was x-rayed due to a stubborn abscess and they noted low heels and thin soles and to shoe him to support this. They also noted slight reverse rotation in the hinds but this has improved and noted on 2019 xrays.
Had the shoes back off over winter 2018 as he had a few months off after backing, fronts on early spring 2019 and then went lame with what transpired to be low grade lami due to his weight and so shoes came off for xrays and he’s been bare since.
We hack quite a lot to keep his weight down and most of this is quite stony, flinty going in parts, particularly the driveway on the yard - think big chunky stones/hardcore. He has got hoof boots in front. He still has low heels and although I think his soles have thickened somewhat, if he stands on a large stone he does feel it and isn’t ‘rock crunching’ all the time. Yesterday we hacked (no boots, my fault!) and he stood on a stone, taking two lame steps after, then fine. It worries me that he’s going to bruise himself as, although he’s not footy over gravel or lots of stones, the odd stone he really does feel. I’m severely tempted to shoe him, even just in front to start with but equally don’t want to ruin his feet now - they have really built up a good digital cushion (still lacking heel!)
The hinds are a bigger issue, no heel there at all really and he does wear these laterally due to his conformation. Again, he can be a little ‘ouch’ on these on the odd larger stone but good frog and surface area, just no heel to speak of.
Happy to send pics via PM but would really appreciate advice.
Farrier has been happy to keep him bare to date and I have asked him to take a look and give his opinion, I just think the more hacking we do, the likelihood of him picking up a good stone bruise becomes more likely ?
Boots are an option behind but due to his movement I do wonder if I’ll spend more time off him than on worrying about them twisting or flying off.
He had a short stint in shoes in 2018 after he was x-rayed due to a stubborn abscess and they noted low heels and thin soles and to shoe him to support this. They also noted slight reverse rotation in the hinds but this has improved and noted on 2019 xrays.
Had the shoes back off over winter 2018 as he had a few months off after backing, fronts on early spring 2019 and then went lame with what transpired to be low grade lami due to his weight and so shoes came off for xrays and he’s been bare since.
We hack quite a lot to keep his weight down and most of this is quite stony, flinty going in parts, particularly the driveway on the yard - think big chunky stones/hardcore. He has got hoof boots in front. He still has low heels and although I think his soles have thickened somewhat, if he stands on a large stone he does feel it and isn’t ‘rock crunching’ all the time. Yesterday we hacked (no boots, my fault!) and he stood on a stone, taking two lame steps after, then fine. It worries me that he’s going to bruise himself as, although he’s not footy over gravel or lots of stones, the odd stone he really does feel. I’m severely tempted to shoe him, even just in front to start with but equally don’t want to ruin his feet now - they have really built up a good digital cushion (still lacking heel!)
The hinds are a bigger issue, no heel there at all really and he does wear these laterally due to his conformation. Again, he can be a little ‘ouch’ on these on the odd larger stone but good frog and surface area, just no heel to speak of.
Happy to send pics via PM but would really appreciate advice.
Farrier has been happy to keep him bare to date and I have asked him to take a look and give his opinion, I just think the more hacking we do, the likelihood of him picking up a good stone bruise becomes more likely ?
Boots are an option behind but due to his movement I do wonder if I’ll spend more time off him than on worrying about them twisting or flying off.