Footy and tripping on hind feet?

Nicole-Louise

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My mare has 2 front shoes, and is barefoot on her back. It's only the front she ever gets foot sore on. She's had her shoes on the front nearly 5 weeks, and her backs have been barefoot for at least 3 months. Yesterday was all fine, we hacked out, popped over a few small jumps and she was running riot on fields as always!

However, today, both mine and a friend's horse are not their usual forward going selves. My mare keeps tripping on her back feet, they're not worn down, I've had them looked at and was told their a nice healthy shape and length (as I've left her to trim her feet herself, they haven't been touched in minimum 4-5 months). However, when I looked at her hooves, the frog on the front 2 is nice and healthy, no signs of infection etc, and her frog is in complete tact. However, her frogs on her back feet are awful, They're sloughing/peeling away, there are bits flapping about that are ready to come off. They're awful :( And she's quite sensitive on her frogs.

She's not foot sore, as she always bucks and refuses to move forward. No limping or favoring, even when walking on a field earlier she took off cantering and galloping by herself without me asking a thing. But when you ask for trot she does a few stops and then immediately slows down and stops and won't go forward without constant tripping. She's even started to over reach which she has NEVER done.

Anyone have any advice on what to do with her frogs. One hand I'm being told it's normal for this time of the year, the other hand I'm being told to put a lot of different things on her feet? Both a farrier and a barefoot trimmer have complimented on how healthy her feet are. It's only recently her frogs on her hind hooves have gone like this :(
 
OP - sorry to learn you are having problems. Good quality close up photos of hooves inc. soles would be helpful in assessing the issues.

I am a bit confused by the content in the post, so please forgive a question to clarify my understanding.

Please can you elaborate a little on the tripping behind - could it also be described as stumbling?

What you describe in the remainder of your post leads me to think that the issue may actually be with the fronts; particularly the comment about over reaching.

It is fairly common for issues with the fronts to also cause problems behind which are often attributed to something else.

If the fronts are slow to breakover/leave the ground then the hinds have trouble coming forward as they should. Short term this can lead to stumbling and over reaching. Longer term there can be back, quarter and/or hock etc difficulties/pain/lameness.

I suspect that whilst your horse may not appear footy, that there may actually be a low grade issue, perhaps equal/ish on both fronts so it may not be showing clearly. Your farrier/trimmer/vet should be able to advise you on how to test for this.

Hope you have success in sorting this out.
 
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