Dished for 5 years, now doesn't!?!

[quirky]

Mare has dished since day I bought her as a 3yr old. Hasn't caused any problems and not been lame in front at all.
Moved yard and changed farrier. After one shoeing, horse no longer dishes.
She has gone from natural balance to a 'normal' shoe with a toe clip.
What's that all about then?

 

[soloequestrian]

If your toes turn in, you will dish - try it yourself. Your new farrier may have changed the shape of the foot so there is less foot to the inside - perhaps in response to something the old farrier was doing, perhaps to make the feet look 'prettier'. It will be difficult to tell if the change is beneficial or not - some horses need support from wonky feet to keep the bony column of their legs in good health. This is one reason why bare feet are so great - you can see from the way they wear what bests suits the horse. You can't do that with a shod horse, you just have to hope that the farrier has got it right, and hope that you're not on a pathway to arthritis.

 

[quirky]

If your toes turn in, you will dish - try it yourself. Your new farrier may have changed the shape of the foot so there is less foot to the inside - perhaps in response to something the old farrier was doing, perhaps to make the feet look 'prettier'. It will be difficult to tell if the change is beneficial or not - some horses need support from wonky feet to keep the bony column of their legs in good health. This is one reason why bare feet are so great - you can see from the way they wear what bests suits the horse. You can't do that with a shod horse, you just have to hope that the farrier has got it right, and hope that you're not on a pathway to arthritis.

Her toes don't turn in.
She has various problems and the referral vet said some years back that the best thing about her was her feet
Arthritis is already in the picture, which is why she can't go shoeless, at least not behind. I can't see the benefit in being shod behind but not in front, so she will remain shod.
I have just come to the end of trying her shoeless behind again after a few years of being shod, it was a failure.

 

[amandap]

I expect it's down to the farrier knowing how to trim and shoe to alter gait. Just a guess btw.

 

[Cortez]

Dishing very often comes from the shoulder or elbow, so changing the feet won't usually affect the flight path of the leg overly much. I have known horses to stop or reduce dishing when they have muscled up and strengthened through training, same thing with horses which are close behind when young.

 

[cellie]

I had one that dished up to 6 years she was sj and always had same farrier. I did alot of schooling with her and she stopped once she knew how to carry herself.

 

[cptrayes]

If the horse stopped dishing overnight then surely this has to be something the farrier did? If so, then I would be worried about the strain on the joints of the leg/shoulder and the possibility of collateral ligament damage. I would ask your farrier,nicely not challengingly, what he did and then decide if you are happy with his answer.

 

[quirky]

If the horse stopped dishing overnight then surely this has to be something the farrier did? If so, then I would be worried about the strain on the joints of the leg/shoulder and the possibility of collateral ligament damage. I would ask your farrier,nicely not challengingly, what he did and then decide if you are happy with his answer.

We're not talking the day after the farrier visited, more like 6 weeks.
Her feet look no different in toe length/shape etc to the naked eye. The only difference is gone from natural balance to 'normal'.
She isn't lame/sore at all and is standing up to work no problem.
I'm going to keep an eye on her and see how she goes.

 

[cptrayes]

We're not talking the day after the farrier visited, more like 6 weeks.
Her feet look no different in toe length/shape etc to the naked eye. The only difference is gone from natural balance to 'normal'.
She isn't lame/sore at all and is standing up to work no problem.
I'm going to keep an eye on her and see how she goes.

I still think that the timing means that it has to be the change of shoes. If so there are only two conclusions that you can draw. Either your previous farrier got it wrong for years, or your current one has it wrong now. I would still recommend asking him if he deliberately did anything to stop her dishing, and then decide for yourself whether you are happy with what he did or not.

 

[Kikke]

Proper shoeing, or trimming if barefoot can deffinatly change the gait and there fore change a disher to a non disher! Well done farrier!!

 

[cptrayes]

Proper shoeing, or trimming if barefoot can deffinatly change the gait and there fore change a disher to a non disher! Well done farrier!!

I don't share your enthusiasm I'm afraid. If the horse dished because its legs aren't strait then the farrier who made it move straight has created pressure on the joints which could potentially be detrimental.

We don't know which farrier was wrong, the one that shod it for years or this one, but one of them is.

OP a front on photo of your horse from the chest down would be very interesting.

 

[quirky]

OP a front on photo of your horse from the chest down would be very interesting.

I'll get one tomorrow and pop it here for your perusal.

 

[cptrayes]

I'll get one tomorrow and pop it here for your perusal.

Oooh, Ta, I'll be waiting

 

[quirky]

http://s253.photobucket.com/user/jhaywar2/media/baby_legs_zps640fc5ec.jpg.html]

 

[quirky]

Make of that what you will, it's not the greatest of photo's I'm afraid.

The white snip on the left leg is where the hoof split due to an accident with a gate as a youngster. When I bought her as a 3 year old, the split was half way up her hoof, so a fair way on in the healing process.

 

[cptrayes]

OK, she's base narrow and her feet turn out from just below the knee and possibly the shoulder by the looks of it. Lots of horses are built that way, it's not a big deal. I would say that guessing from one still photo, which is a huge guess, dishing is her 'correct' action and that your latest farrier has shod her to make her move straight. Don't be fooled by the toe clips, they have been placed off centre to make her look like her feet are straight. I suspect she is placing more weight on one side of her foot than the other, which might cause problems long term. If you were mega rich I would suggest taking xrays to check the internal balance of her feet, but most of us don't have two or three hundred to use that way.

I would keep this photo, and take another set at ground level from the front and the side, and take more each time she is shod, then you will be absolutely sure what is happening to her feet over time.


Thanks for posting, very interesting.

 

[quirky]

The farrier did not trot her up prior to shoeing, so not sure he knew she dished, I didn't tell him.
This is her 2nd shoeing with him and I think, having trotted quite a bit at the weekend that she is beginning to dish on her off fore again. I need to see her trotted up to confirm this.
I'm not bothered how she moves as long as she remains sound.
Thank you for your thoughts, I shall keep a visual record of her feet and see how she goes on.