could my horse being foot sore be the reason she’s so lazy

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emilymachin

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i have an (around) 11 year old, 14’3, barefoot appaloosa mare who i bought in december 2017. When i first got her so was literally the most sensitive horse to my leg i think i’ve ever rode. i even had troubles keeping her at a reasonable pace and trying to stop her rushing her trot. In around august time she started to get kinda lazy which i was worried about at first but i was reassured that it was probably just the heat and i expected her to go back to her speedy self in winter. Now that it’s winter i can tell you that she has definitely not gone back to what she used to be like in fact she has got mush lazy right and i’m willing to work. Shes currently fed on alfa a and speedy beat (which hasn’t changed since i got her) and is unfortunately at the moment only turned out on weekends as we have limited turn out in winter. She’s exactly the same with lazyness on the lunge and she has lost her spark for jumping which she used to love, however in the field and out hacking she runs around like crazy and really seems to enjoy herself.

now i haven’t had any vet checks yet ( i will be don’t worry i’m just seeing if it could be her feet) but i have done pretty much everything i can think of to fix a super lazy horse.

i have noticed that she is very foot sore ( for example we have grass on the sides of the concrete path leading up to the arena and she always drags me just so she can walk on it). Even though she has regular farrier care her feet seem very flat. We have a mostly sand , which is very water logged, arena with chunks of rubber. I was thinking because i know she’s footsore could she be hurting whilst riding in the arena which would explain why she is lazy and reluctant to work, but loves running and is hard to control on grass?

When i first got her, her feet were in really bad condition, they were very over grown and looked like massive plates. I got the farrier out asap however he couldn’t do them because she got herself so panicked and worked up. He came out again shortly after and we had to have her sedated, he did manage to do them however it was still a struggle and she was in no way calm. We now have to sedate, twitch and keep her in a narrow (ish) block just to have her feet trimmed and she is still almost impossible to handle. He honestly doesn’t think we will be able to get shoes anywhere near her so i really don’t think they are an option.

i really don’t know what to do at this point, i don’t enjoy riding her and she doesn’t enjoy being ridden. I’m sorry this is super long winded but i’m just trying to figure out what’s best for her as i really don’t want her hurting. I will be getting a vet out to check for anything else and i will be speaking to my farrier about all this. thank you
 
Some Options:
Allow her to be self trimming as that seemed to work
Purchase boots
Vet work up (query pssm given breeding)

Realistically I wouldn’t expect a long term barefoot horse to be at all sore on a surface though. It’s fairly normal for them to prefer grass over concrete so it does depend a bit what you mean by very footsore.
Also if footsore do not underestimate the effect that this has on the rest of the muscles, it can make horses very sore and tight all over.
 
Isn’t there a genetic disease that Appaloosas can suffer from that affects the feet .

Yes OP your horse could be very foot sore being foot sore makes horses unwilling move and make them very very miserable .
This is a job for the vet .
 
Could also be low grade laminitis as fat horses get lazier and also get sore feet not quite enough to be obvious. The timing and the continued pain would suggest it and it is relatively easy to sort. I would be a bit concerned that she hasnt been taught sensitively and kindly to tolerate having her hoofs trimmed but that also suggests that her balance isnt established and concentrating her weight on one foot is painful
 
There could be several things going on. She could have been sensitive and rushing when you got her because she was in pain then. If she's lazy under saddle it certainly could be pain (and it definitely sounds like there's something hurting) or laminitis, but it could also be a schooling issue, depending on how you have been riding her - especially if she's happier out hacking.

I'd start with the vet. I might also think about changing farrier if her feet still aren't right, or at least getting another opinion. I would also look at diet. And once you've sorted all that out, I would have regular lessons if you aren't already.
 
I would start with the feet, cut out the alfa A and give alfalfa pellets if you want to feed alfalfa. I would boot all round. If you don't want to buy boots you could hire a set. Alternatively cavallos are easy to put on, one of the cheaper boots and seem to sell easily. I would put pads in the boots and try leading out in hand with them. If you simply have sore feet you should notice a difference pretty quickly. I would look at the frog, especially the central sulchus and made sure there is no infection as this will make a horse sore.
If you have success with the boots I would then look at the trimming. Is it making the horse sore? Is your farrier taking too much off?

If the boots don't make a difference I would then work on ycbm's suggestions. Vet's dont seem to know much about PSSM management and there is no medication or cure. It is simply a case of management. I have one with PSSM, management is heavily rugged, daily turnout, wandering at night, not shut in, high dose vit e oil, salt and a supplement, copra, alfalfa pellets and linseed. Some need daily exercise, some manage without. Check the muscles over the hind quarters, are they hard? PSSM 1 can be tested for PSSM 2 is often the conclusion if the horse improves on the management regime.

I believe appy's have inherited eye problems? that would be another consideration ie she doesn't want to move fast as she is having more difficulty in seeing. I'm sure if you google it there will be info on that.
 
ester said:
Some Options:
Allow her to be self trimming as that seemed to work
Purchase boots
Vet work up (query pssm given breeding)

Realistically I wouldn’t expect a long term barefoot horse to be at all sore on a surface though. It’s fairly normal for them to prefer grass over concrete so it does depend a bit what you mean by very footsore.
Also if footsore do not underestimate the effect that this has on the rest of the muscles, it can make horses very sore and tight all over.
Click to expand...

the vet is due for vaccinations very soon so i will definitely be getting a work up, i heard about pssm so will bring that up. The reason her feet came to mind was because my farrier said when her first saw her that he thinks she’s not had much of any attention to her feet and once she was in the routine of getting them done regularly, that’s when the foot soreness started. Anyway thank you for you advice:)
 
Goldenstar said:
Isn’t there a genetic disease that Appaloosas can suffer from that affects the feet .

Yes OP your horse could be very foot sore being foot sore makes horses unwilling move and make them very very miserable .
This is a job for the vet .
Click to expand...

the vet is out very soon for vaccs so will have him look over her then :)
 
Theocat said:
There could be several things going on. She could have been sensitive and rushing when you got her because she was in pain then. If she's lazy under saddle it certainly could be pain (and it definitely sounds like there's something hurting) or laminitis, but it could also be a schooling issue, depending on how you have been riding her - especially if she's happier out hacking.

I'd start with the vet. I might also think about changing farrier if her feet still aren't right, or at least getting another opinion. I would also look at diet. And once you've sorted all that out, I would have regular lessons if you aren't already.
Click to expand...

thank you, will deffo do all these things
 
paddy555 said:
I would start with the feet, cut out the alfa A and give alfalfa pellets if you want to feed alfalfa. I would boot all round. If you don't want to buy boots you could hire a set. Alternatively cavallos are easy to put on, one of the cheaper boots and seem to sell easily. I would put pads in the boots and try leading out in hand with them. If you simply have sore feet you should notice a difference pretty quickly. I would look at the frog, especially the central sulchus and made sure there is no infection as this will make a horse sore.
If you have success with the boots I would then look at the trimming. Is it making the horse sore? Is your farrier taking too much off?

If the boots don't make a difference I would then work on ycbm's suggestions. Vet's dont seem to know much about PSSM management and there is no medication or cure. It is simply a case of management. I have one with PSSM, management is heavily rugged, daily turnout, wandering at night, not shut in, high dose vit e oil, salt and a supplement, copra, alfalfa pellets and linseed. Some need daily exercise, some manage without. Check the muscles over the hind quarters, are they hard? PSSM 1 can be tested for PSSM 2 is often the conclusion if the horse improves on the management regime.

I believe appy's have inherited eye problems? that would be another consideration ie she doesn't want to move fast as she is having more difficulty in seeing. I'm sure if you google it there will be info on that.
Click to expand...

i will get some boots and the vet is out soon so i will get her tested, and i never even thought about the eyes thank you for your help
 
emilymachin said:
the vet will be out soon for vaccs so i will get her tested, thank you :)
Click to expand...


You don't need a vet. Pull out some mane or tail hair at the roots and send it here with their form filled in:


https://www.animalgenetics.eu/about-us.php


That's the test for type 1. Then, as Paddy says above, if she responds to diet changes but is negative for type 1, it would normally be assumed that she is type 2. You can do a muscle biopsy for type 2 but most people don't think it's worth the cost of the minor operation to take the samples.


Your horse wasn't foot sore until your farrier started regular trimming? Listen to the horse, stop the trimming.
 
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Eye problems only need low light levels paddy, and requires them to be LPLP so linked to colour rather than breed per se
 
I would ask your farrier to continue coming as it will be good experience for her but I would ask him to keep trimming to an absolute minimum. Ask him to leave the frog and sole well alone and perhaps just tidy the wall for a while.
Sore feet can absolutely make them appear lazy and if she is tense all the time because of this, she may well have sore and tense muscles. Try some stretching exercises with her or get someone in to do it.
Definitely check for laminitis symptoms and/or Cushings
 
ycbm said:
You don't need a vet. Pull out some mane or tail hair at the roots and send it here with their form filled in:


https://www.animalgenetics.eu/about-us.php


That's the test for type 1. Then, as Paddy says above, if she responds to diet changes but is negative for type 1, it would normally be assumed that she is type 2. You can do a muscle biopsy for type 2 but most people don't think it's worth the cost of the minor operation to take the samples.


Your horse wasn't foot sore until your farrier started regular trimming? Listen to the horse, stop the trimming.
Click to expand...

thank you i’ll send a sample asap!
 
_HP_ said:
I would ask your farrier to continue coming as it will be good experience for her but I would ask him to keep trimming to an absolute minimum. Ask him to leave the frog and sole well alone and perhaps just tidy the wall for a while.
Sore feet can absolutely make them appear lazy and if she is tense all the time because of this, she may well have sore and tense muscles. Try some stretching exercises with her or get someone in to do it.
Definitely check for laminitis symptoms and/or Cushings
Click to expand...

he never really does her frog or sole as she does really give him enough time to haha. i hope look around for someone else to do her though considering she is still footsore after all this time.
 
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