Bruised sole?

J

Jasper1965

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Have had my boy now for just over 5 weeks. Just before he came to me his old owner had his shoes refitted. He was shod in natural balance shoes, for no particular reason according to his owner. TBH i dont thnk his owner was ever present at shoeing time as horse was on part livery.
About 2 1/2 weeks ago i found a massive stone wedged in his off fore. It took 2 of us to lever it out of his hoof. He went quite lame afterwards. My farrier came out to do a new set if shoes. He tested for a bruised sole, but it was inconclusive. However he mentioned that the natural balance shoes appeared to be a size too small so could well have been pinching, and that his off fore had been shod very short. He has put on normal side clips to encourage the off fore to grow down. It's currently about 3mm from the front of his shoe. As he was very feelie whilst being shod, both my farrier and i expected the lameness to get worse for. Few days after shoeing, given the rebalancing etc. but in fact it vastly improved it.
He is now just very slightly lame in trot.
Is it just a matter of time do you think before he becomes sound again, or is there more i should do?
Anyone who has had similar experience?
 
Was he footie in more than one foot? If so, you should think about restricting his grazing and keep a sharp eye out for laminitis.

If it was just the one foot, caused by a stone, it's a matter of time but standing him in a cold stream for as long as you can is often quite helpful with a foot bruise - if you have a handy stream :D
 
Usually only days for a bruise, maybe a week for a bad one. As long as you are seeing improvements things should be fine in a few days.

If he goes more lame then it is possible that he has an abscess. Don't panic, it can make them very lame, they are common, just call your farrier back and not your vet. He will charge less and cut a smaller hole to let it out :)

ps if he is sound in walk then I personally would ride him. The more blood supply he has getting around his foot the quicker it will get better, and the more he moves the better his blood supply to the foot will be. If he gets worse at all because of the exercise, stop and get the vet out because there would be likely to be something more serious going on if he can't cope with walking. Hope that helps.
 
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I have walked him out....he is totally fine, which is good. He also doesnt have a problem turning a tight turn on either leg. Thank you lots for your thoughts. Think i just needed some reassurance :)
 
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