Foot sore!

lizijj

lizijj

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 August 2008
Messages
260
Visit site
Hi, again those who have seen my posts know I have our first county show on THURSDAY!!!! My horse has crap feet and is always sore after being shod. Sound in walk but sore in trot one week on after farrier.... only four days left to school and practice gallop!

Any advice please??? I have a river I have been standing him in, the show rider doesn't seem too worried, I am!!! :)
 
He's always sore after being shod... And you're only worried about it now in case it affects your show... My advice would be to do right by our horse and solve the underlying problem, fgs!
 
Yes I am worried about the show - been working hard for it, however I always put my horses welfare first - my post was asking for any advice. Thanks for the teasy reply! Not helpful!
 
strongly suggest you change farriers....
get a second opinion, QUICK...

one of my clients first came to me with a horse that was being 'remedially shod' every 4 weeks at enormous expense and she had to box it there each time (about a 50 mile round trip....)

it was always lame for the first two weeks after being shod...

v tricky situation as this was a referral from a 'specialist' horse vet (at least that' what their marketing material says....)

after a few months i felt able to tactfully suggest she get a second opinion from a real specialist horse vet

their remedial farrier shod horse twice
by which time it was back in normal shoes (with pads initially)

and then my (extremely good) local farrier was able to take the horse on his books
(vet advised on ongoing shoeing and checked he was happy a couple of months later - which he was)

horse stayed sound from then on in....

moral - experts aren't always experts...
give them a reasonable chance (about 4-6 shoeings) , then if no progress, get a second opinion from a REAL expert...
 
Nocturnal said:
He's always sore after being shod... And you're only worried about it now in case it affects your show... My advice would be to do right by our horse and solve the underlying problem, fgs!
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I agree with Nocturnal.......If your horse is always sore after being shod and you've never done anything about?..............don't take him to the county show, get him sound ALL the time first!
 
Another one with Nocturnal it's not right or normal for a horse to be lame after shoeing if I where you I would forget the show and get a good horse vet to advise and find out why shoeing makes the horse lame and do something about it, and take a good look at the horses diet.
Clearly he can't be worked when lame so he will just have to go to the show very fresh that's th only advice I can give you.
You could try Keratex but it's a bit late now you ought to have addressed this in winter when there's time to make changes.
 
If he's always sore after being shod then you are not putting your horses welfare first.

What does the farrier say?
 
Ummm you are paying someone to put shoes that hurt your horse on your horse??? And you are worried about going to a show not your horses feet???? Having the farrier is meant to make your horse more comfortable not less. I suppose you always buy shoes that hurt you loads and wear them yourself to look good regardless because that is what you are doing to an animal that can't complain. You can. Please consider the horse not your ego for show ribbons.
 
If your horse is in "show condition" then I would expect that's why he grows rubbish feet.

I have no tips on how to get him sound for your County Show. If being as fat as they need to be to win a County Show, my only advice would be to get his weight down and give up the ribbons, sorry.
 
No horse naturally has 'crap feet'. It's a management issue that you need to review.
Sorry that it's come at the wrong time.....but you need to understand that hooves always reflect general health. If the hooves are poor then diet and lifestyle needs to be addressed for the hooves to improve. Shoes, trimming, lotions or potions won't do it alone.
 
cptrayes said:
If your horse is in "show condition" then I would expect that's why he grows rubbish feet.

I have no tips on how to get him sound for your County Show. If being as fat as they need to be to win a County Show, my only advice would be to get his weight down and give up the ribbons, sorry.
Click to expand...

Can't help but agree with the above. Crap feet are usually diet related - if you've been feeding conditioning feeds they won't be helping. Plenty of fibre and low starch feeds and low sugar feeds is what you need. I had a horse which used to be sore after the farrier shod him - this is going back several years and this farrier was supposed to be the best in the area - he taught at the college where the farriers went to learn their trade! I changed farriers when I changed yards and the improvement was immediate - not sore, striding out and never lame!
Good luck in getting him sorted - it's awful seeing them sore. :(
 
Without wishing to sound like im having a go...why have you carried on with this farrier? If my horses were foot sore every time the farrier did there feet I would certainly be looking elsewhere...not stood in a stream!
 
lizijj said:
my post was asking for any advice.
Click to expand...

OP you have received some very sound advice by previous posters which is summarised below:

Put welfare first
Condition score your horse, ensure they are a healthy weight
Check diet
Seek vet advice - no horse should be sore after shoeing for even a moment. Several days let alone a week or more is completely unacceptable.
Change your farrier or consider taking your horse barefoot
 
I think you have several options - not work your horse whilst his feet are sore, then look at what can be done in future to prevent this from happening again, accept he may not be at his best at the county show due to lack of practice.

option number 2 unethical but am sure lots of people do it, give your horse bute so he does not feel the pain and practice his gallop.

I would not recommend option 2.
 
Hi, thanks for your messages. To be clear:

Feet were fine until I turned him out for a winter with shoes off, he probably got a gravel and that was the start.

His feet have been a priority and long term project to get him sound again.

He is not in show condition because I am over feeding him - he lives out 24/7 and doesn't have any hard feed, only forage. I limit or add grazing by the eye, my horses are never over the 'good' score. They have a Horslyx field lick add lib.

Have had the grazing tested and no minerals etc lacking.

I do not have a showing ego - I can't stand showing - I promised his breeder to show him at a our county show once, and as this is the only year the show falls into half term (I teach so can not have the time off) I wanted to get him out.

My farrier is one of the best in the county and I don't doubt his judgement. The hoof has been improving.

If he's not sound to show, then obviously I won't show him, but I've found some of the responses on here a bit upsetting and not for the initial purpose of my post, which was for advice and not attack...
 
if his feet have been improving then perhaps your farrier is doing something right however it never hurts to get a second opinion- even from someone like your vet?

My wee horse has always worn two shoes on front and barefoot behind until a year or two ago when farrier suggested going barefoot as his front feet were always in worse condition than his back. It wasn't a major issue as his front feet were fine and he was sound but we took shoes off and while the few cracks disappeared after a year barefoot he is now shod again since all the roadwork we do was wearing his feet down faster than they could grow!

I think some people have made good points and perhaps you could follow them up as you please :)
 
I've had my horse for over 4 months now, he came to me "fat" I'm really struggling to get his weight down at the moment with the spring grass as he's a good doer. And surprisingly he has fantastic feet, so he must be the exception.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top