Footsore causes?

[Jo1987]

My cob has recently become quite footsore behind, he is shod in front and barefoot behind.
He's fine on a surface and in the forest, but on the lanes (quite gravelly) or stony ground he is not happy at all.
He has never been sore before, and has never been shod behind (I've had him since he was a just broken 4 yr old, he's 6 now)
His work load hasn't changed and I'm not doing more roadwork than usual, could the wet cause him to be sore? He lives out and the fields are wetter/muddier than usual previous winters.
I'm wracking my brains to think what could be causing it, and don't really want to just whack some shoes on as he's not needed them before and don't want to just mask the problem.
Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[gryff]

My arab has been the same. I've had her on Top Spec balancer for a few months and Im now realising that this started slightly at about the same time. I've taken her off it now to see if there's any difference. Could it be feed related?

 

[paddy555]

My arab has been the same. I've had her on Top Spec balancer for a few months and Im now realising that this started slightly at about the same time. I've taken her off it now to see if there's any difference. Could it be feed related?

it certainly was TS balancer related for mine.

OP, give the frogs a good clean, scrub the central sulchus and see if there is any infection in there. Get the sharp end of the hoof pick and ram it in quite hard. Don't get kicked. Is there any reaction from the horse? If so then that is what he must feel walking over stones. Clean really hard down the grooves at the sides of the frog. Any reaction to the hoofpick indicating soreness?

That is the first thing I would try.

 

[Jo1987]

Thanks for the replies, he's not on any balances, just a tiny handful of happy hoof which he's been on since I've owned him.
I will have a good poke and scrub of his feet this afternoon!