foot sore horse? :(

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22 June 2010
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This might be long im sorry, I will try to break it up.
I just got Boomer almost 2 months ago and when I got him he was perfectly sound and everything was going well. He is a 4 year old ottb, no injuries and been off the track a year. He was malnourished and very skinny. He is now fat and happy! He has been on Farrier's formula for a month so far because of his terrible feet.
2 weeks in he appeared to be very slightly off ONLY going on the left rein, on a circle. He came with front shoes and pads, said only to be on until his hooves were strong enough. I stopped riding him and a week later he was quite lame! Barn owner said it was hock problem but no one would listen to me that he was LAME on his front.
Vet came and he was off in his front right. He did a block in his foot area and no change, and then again in the pastern area and came sound. X-rays were done and everything was fine. He said it was a hoof issue and we took off his shoes/pads and called the farrier in.
Except with his shoes off, he is off on the left rein. He has contracted heels in the front (more so on the FR) pretty bad and splits in his frogs. He has no frogs because he had shoes on and they just seem to be getting worse! Not to mention his hooves are uneven and have had terrible trimming jobs done. Is that all it is? He is currently landing toe first and I am not sure if that is because he is sore or the angle of his hooves. Farrier doesnt seem to care to see him trot and just says he needs time and he will okay. Forgot to mention there is no heat anywhere.
I am trying to get a barefoot trimmer out to actually do something. I am worried about him having navicular but the farrier says no. I asked about trush, she said no as well. I am clueless and have been trying to solve this on my own!
He was very sore on gravel at the beginning and now he is not walking as slowly over them. He is sound going to the right and on the left going straight and if he is going slow he looks okay, but when he has to put pressure on his FL you can see he is sore. His shoes have been off over a month. It is really weird because his FR looks so much worse but he is not sore on it ?!

It won't let me upload pictures but I will provide a link. I will try to get better pictures when the weather cooperates. He needs his hooves done I know! He had them done not even 2 week ago :| Not very pleased with the trim job.
Thanks, I really need someone's opinion!

http://s855.photobucket.com/albums/a...boombaddabing/
 
What area do you live in? Perhaps post this on UKNHCP forum for more advice. Even if you choose to continue with your farrier, a UKNHCP trimmer will come out for a consultation and give advice.

So sorry you are having a rough time - but he is so young that whatever it is will not be longstanding.
 
TB's off the track very often have bad feet - not because that's just how TB's are as most people think but because they are usually shod very young and fed high calorie diets.

When you say he's fat that suggests his diet is too high in sugar - a sure fire route to a foot sore horse. Or even just the fact he's gone from malnourished to conditioned in two months - does he have any stress rings on his hooves?

It's definitely a good idea to track down a barefoot trimmer if your farrier is less than interested. Remember there are other brands of barefoot trimmers not just the UKNHCP lot. If you tell us where you are located I'm sure a few of us can recommend someone good to come out and see you.
 
Have you had a look at performance barefoot website. There is a horse with dreadful feet on there that had pads on, think its under Jessica. If the heels are contracted and frogs are split there could be some thrush. Do his feet smell? I would of thought having pads on would increase the likelihood of thrush as the feet cant ' breathe'. I have an exracer that is sensitive on her feet if she gets too much sweet stuff, such a molichop or molassed mixes. So I have had to cut as much out as possible. Good luck :-)
 
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