Foot sore

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jodssukari1

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Hiya, when i got up the stables this morning my mare was quiet badly foot sore. She's not down on her heels yet but her frog is now touching the ground. I'm kicking myself for not evening noticing it before.

She went on a long ride on Sunday and so i gave her the day off yesterday thinking she was a little tired. It's nothing she's not used to but i've only had her for about 3 months and have done a lot of road work with her so i reckon she may not have has strong hooves as my other gelding. She isn't shooed on the back so i'm going to get her shod asap.

I'm keeping her in but any ideas how i can speed up/strengthen her hooves? I'm going to get her a bag of seaweed and see if that helps. Also she has a deep bed but do i need to dress her feet or just leave her and if she is staying in 24/7, usually i'd take her for a little walk or ride her but what should i do. Should i just take her for a slow little walk? Don't want to make anything worse but i don't want her getting stiff/swollen legs.

Any help much appreciated, thank you.
 
Her frog should be touching the ground. Make sure she is on a low sugar diet and is getting a good mineral supplement to help encourage good hoof growth. You may just need to take it a little more slowly or get her some boots for a while until she gets used to the level of work.
There is also a possibility that she has simply got a bruise that will heal up in a short time.
 
DON'T SHOE HER THIS JUST HIDES THE PROBLEM!!
Firstly give her a few days rest, make sure she is on a high fibre low sugar diet is lots of hay etc and little or no cereals and molasses (this is a long term solution to foot soundness)
Yu can use Keratex nail hardener on her soles for a couple of weeks which will help toughen it up and reduce soreness.
Overall it sound like you need to improve the general management of your horses lifestyle but please don't rush to shoe, this will only mask a problem, I am sure you would rather deal with it than brush it under the carpet!
 
PLEASE don't shoe her. This will be an increadibly painful experience for her. You have said yourself that you have done a lot of roadwork with her, the problem with this is that it doesn't sound like you've given her feet the chance to get used to this amount of work so they will have worn down quicker than they can grow. They will get used to it if you let them.

DON'T bother with seaweed - it is unlikely to do any good - it is very high in Iodine which can be toxic.

Instead, change her to a low sugar, low starch diet and perhaps get her some pro-hoof supplement by progressive earth (on ebay). What is she fed at the moment?

In the mean time, rest her for a few days (stabled Ideally) and then introduce turnout and ridden work slowly - start with 10-20 minutes and build up from there. Ideally stick to grass or soft surfaces initially.
 
Gloi said:
Her frog should be touching the ground.
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Ditto.

In fact, on the hind feet it is absolutely normal for the frogs to appear to be slightly higher than the heels.

I would not keep her in even if she is sore. Movement helps keep the blood flowing, which will give you a faster repair of whatever has gone wrong.
 
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She's fed on a low sugar high fibre, she's fed spillers cool fibre and spillers lite balancer and has ad lib hay. She doesn't eat much hay.

So how long until i can shoe her as most people up at where i am stabled have told me to get her shod as soon as possible? Thank you all
 
If horses NEED shoeing fair enough but why shoe if they don't need it, just to follow the pack???????

I bought a mare a couple of years ago with front shoes, when I asked if she had a foot problem the seller, who was an experienced horsewoman and had owned horses for over twenty years said she put shoes on just because she got fed up with people passing comment that her horse was bare foot, I had her front shoes removed and she has fantastic feet, why would I add huge lumps of metal to a horse's feet when they have evolved over thousands of years and not needed them.
 
Don't be a sheep and do what others on your yard say, unfortunately there are far too many horsey people stuck in a rut and just do what's always been done. People here are telling you not to shoe her, please take their advice. Any farrier worth his salt would not shoe a horse just because it has become foot sore, rather they would help you find a solution to the problem, not just a bandaid to hide it.
 
As for food mine has fast fibre with a good quality vitamin, heavy magnesium oxide to improve blood flow in the capilliaries of the lamellae in her feet (meaning they have a good blood supply and are strong and NOT SORE) a small scoop of outshine for omega oils, straw chop (NO MOLASSES) and hay. She is barefoot, with nice concave feet an sound on uneven stoney surfaces and web with a slightly damaged coronary band meaning she has an imperfection in the hoof wall on one foot remains sound with strong feet.
Diet is THE most important thing for our horses and is one of the things that people are very flippant with. Consider restricting grass access especially when it is spring/summer or frosty as sugars are much higher then.
 
I find this a fascinating subject, for the OP's horse I guess she is pretty early on in the transition so the diet is certainly worth addressing but at what stage would you decide that the horse might be better off with shoes on so that it could graze and live naturally?
 
I actually believe that there are very few issues that can't be solved with correct diet, proper foot stimulation and a natural trim (done by someone who specialises in natural trims) in some cases shoeing may serve to bridge a gap until the conditions are more favourable to go barefoot (ie in the winter when the ground is softer) but I believe with correct husbandry and stimulation all horses can be barefoot and sound ( and that's coming from the owner of a TB who have notoriously 'flat' feet!)
 
skint1 said:
but at what stage would you decide that the horse might be better off with shoes on so that it could graze and live naturally?
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Therein lies the problem for some horses on the grazing some of us have. Mine live out in a large yard with barn access and very limited grazing. I have tried and tried to introduce more (and even some grazing for one) but the problems they get is not worth the risk anymore for me. I love to see them out in the fields but laminitis, severe hoof problems are the result here.
You can bet your bottom dollar if there are hoof problems then there will be body problems... over weight, under weight, irritated gut, bahvioural changes, intermittent hoof soreness/problems, muscle soreness as a knock on from sore hooves for eg.

Grazing cultivated grass isn't 'natural' for horses, that's often the problem. :(
 
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I was told that she didn't have very strong feet by her seller and he had only had her front shod as he didn't ride her that often.

I certainly would not follow the crowd. But would you then say never get her backs shod? As it's unfair on her. I do a lot of road work as she doesn't really enjoy schooling, although i'm working on that.
 
jodssukari1, in the end it's down to you. You have to weigh up the pros and cons and make a decision that's right for you and your horse.
 
if her feet have been so long that she has not had her frogs on the floor, and now they have worn, correctly, and she does, is there a possibility that she has thrush in the frogs that is now hurting her because her frogs have become weight bearing? The lameness you describe seems a little extreme just from a little too much road work
 
He probably said her feet aren't very strong because he didnt ride her much so they wouldnt be strong. Once you gradually build up her work on hard surfaces the blood supply in her feet will be stimulated and she will grow horn faster than she does now (a barefoot horse with a good diet and in regular work will grow an entire hoof capsule out in around half time of a shod horse)
If you are going to get advice of vet and farrier (very good idea) please think about getting a specialist barefoot trimmer in too as many farriers don't specialise in this and just feel safer 'chucking some shoes on'
 
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