foot-sore or laminitis (post removal of shoes for hols)

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Lolo

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as horses have been working hard over the winter i decided to give the horses a 3 week break in a lovely field which has been quite extensively grazed by cattle over winter- so not too much grass (i thought)

as their shoes were nearly hanging off i got the farrier to remove shoes and trim on monday - didn't see point of having shoes on while not working

but when i went to check them this morning elli was hanging her head and very uncomfortable even to walk looking very much like a laminitic.

i got her back in a stable, gave her bute and some acp but does anyone have a difinitive way of telling if this is actual laminitis or a very sensitive mare who doent cope without her jimmy choos on?

i will phone farrier in the morn for his advice, but wondered if anyone here could help???

she is a 15hh wb/tb
 
We took our ponies shoes off four weeks ago and he is only just getting used to the hard ground, he was very footie and yes they do walk like laminitics, but because I know this pony so well and they live on a fairly bare paddock knew it wasn't lami!

I would call vet just to be on the safe side.

BTW I would also be carefull of the grass, it may not look like there's much as it has been grazed down, but don't forget they are eating it down as it grows!
 
My friend who is a EP said that it was ALOT easier to tell if a horse was in the early stage of lami when they are barefoot as when they have shoes on it buffers the foot from the ground and offers support. She could tell her barefoot horse had just had a bit too much grass as he came in pottery which was unusual.
My horse did go very pottery when we took his shoes of for his winter break so might just be that but prob not worth risking it. He is still barefoot now and this hard ground has made him more pottery even tho he has been barefoot for nearly 6 months (shoes back on mon WOOHOO)
What are her digital pulses like?? I now (on advice of EP) check my horses at each end of the day in the spring. If they are strong I take horse off the grass for a bit
 
call vet and farrier to be on the safe side but in my eyes if it was just sore from having shoes off it should be ok in the field but then i would say it would go lame on hard surfaces. Check the digital pulses see if they are raised!
 
to be safe ask vet and/or farrier. Probably he is just sore though. My mare went barefoot for a long time and then started getting problems due to the ground we are now on. One vet at the time said she was laminitic but luckily the next visit proved that she had just been footsore (and farrier laughed when he was told that my horse was laminitic as there were no signs in her feet, she is a TB) - so - probably just a case of them being sore but best to check it over.
 
The VERY good news is that the farrier came this afternoon, put new shoes on and she trotted up completely sound and back to her happy self!

i suppose sometimes a girl just cant be seen out without her shiny silver shoes on.......
 
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