Bruised Toes...

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robthecob

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Bare with me here because this is a Tuesday morning muse and I'm hoping some knowledgable people may be able to offer some ideas... :)

My excellent farrier came out yesterday, it was only his 4th shoeing (6 weekly) and he took over from a not so excellent couple of farriers who had managed us for the couple of years previous..

Horse has a history of problems which include mild psd bilaterally behind mild psd to the left fore and arthritic changes to the right hand side of the sacroilliac joint which is what gave us our LOU from Newmarket..

Anyway, horse has been in work for last year.. Nothing has been rushed, we have regular physio and my farrier has worked great wonders with the feet, so much so that he said yesterday they had really turned a corner, the front feet looked a pair, the balance was much much better, White lines tight, generally a healthy looking pair of front feet.

The problem is that her movement doesn't seem to be mirroring this, she is still landing heavily toe first (only when being led in hand or when not being pushed through from behind in the school) I have also noticed her "natural" go to standing position is left toe pointed with the weight rocked to the inside and right hind rested. Yesterday when we trimmed the left fore we found evidence of bruising on the toe, which could just be old or could still be happening.

I can only piece together all the info I have and farrier doesn't think the pain is in the foot but if she continues to land toe first thats not good. The physio found soreness through left shoulder and in the pecs on her last visit too which I think is all linked somehow.

Plan is to eventually take the front shoes off but with all going on behind elsewhere we haven't thought she us ready yet.

So I guess the question is can some horses just land toe first, she is built fairly straight behind and a bit downhill we I can obviously correct when ridden but I don't have much control otherwise. Is there a way to correct this? I'm worried about the toe bruising but I can't empaphise quite how good my farrier is, he is not at all against barefoot.

Hmm I appreciate it greatly if anyone has anything to offer, it's been a long road so far and we are so much better off than we were 1 year ago but my job really now is to spot anything that could damage :)
 
There is a lot in your case history which is disturbing. But to take your final point.

Heel first landing/toe first landing is an area where a little knowledge can be misleading.

Any horse will land toe first some of the time, depending on terrain, gradient, and level of activity.

A heel first landing is most easily monitored on a flat, level surface with the horse walking actively.

If the horse is dawdling, climbing uphill or working on a particular surface they may well not land heel first.

That said perpetual toe first landing is not a good idea, especially if the sole at the toe is thin. You may not see a lot of symptoms in the short term especially in a shod horse, but long term there can be a lot of damage.
 
I know the history is extensive but it's all I have to work with. Which bits concern you? I feel a bit like we are guessing chicken or egg! Newmarket think the back end injuries are old possibly caused by a fall, the front feet being poor before I changed farriers probably exaggerated this and the suspensory damage would have been compensatory. Or now what I am thinking is could we have always had issues with the front feet not helped by poor farriery but more than just balance issues. As I said its a musing really, my farrier thinks the excessive wear on the toes is from the horse being yoke downhill I am worried were missing something but as LOU I don't have the insurance to throw at a load of xrays but we are going into the vets in December for a steroid injection into the sacroiliac joint so if there is something worth getting scanned or xrayed then that's the ideal time really!
 
She l lands heel first the majority of the time on good footing when Goong forward. Sitting behind my leg the whole picture looksmore uncomfortable. Sometimes when first getting on the walk and trot can feel very stuffy and the feet stab toe first into the ground, that probably sounds more dramatic than it is but it does feel awful and I have always contributed it to the back end loosening off. She does work through it and is sound although finds the left rein harder!
 
All agendas to one side. I honestly believe that horses that have injured themselves benefit even more than most from being allowed to grow the feet they need rather than those which fit human aesthetics.

Feet that are a pair are considered ideal, but they aren't not always.

For example my old mare had an injury at two which the vet considered she would never recover from and he wanted to PTS. Well she did recover and she came sound. But the foot on that leg never matched the other one. Any attempt to make it do so left her lame. This was an extreme case, but it taught me a lot.

Others with back and/or SI injuries have similarly benefited - particularly from being bare on a track where they exercised themselves to full health and soundness.

A requirement for regular physio intervention to me is a sign that not all is well. Given the chance the horses do a lot for themselves.

'Excessive wear' can be in the eye of the beholder, but if it is an actuality, then is usually a fault with how the feet are being managed.

How about posting some photos so we can have a better idea of what we are talking about?
 
I can get some photos, I will try later if the light is good enough!

I haven't mentioned any timescales here, we went to Newmarket in July 2010 and the mare was turned away before that and bought slowly back into work just before Christmas last year! The plan has always been to take her barefoot when the time is right and that plan has been discussed with my farrier who will carry on to be my trimmer when the shoes come off. He trims my friends barefoot mare and she has brilliant feet! He is well respected! What we are conscious of is whipping the shoes off making her sore causing her to take more weight behind which will cripple her. Obviously I will buy boots for her when we take the shoes off but we will no doubt be heading for hard frosty ground which can't be ideal for newly naked feet!

I think the physio is necessary, it's scheduled and sometimes we find more than others but again the physio is very well thought of and has dealt with her from the start. This time we found something new in the form of the sore shoulders!
 
This time of year is usually the best due to low sugar values in grazing. Generally.

I used to turn my pony out in boots.

Have you addressed any thrush? That can cause problems on its own!
 
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