Footy?

[dwi]

After lots of consultation I decided to try D barefoot this winter as she was already bare on the back and seemed happy and healthy. She seemed fine at first and i was amazed that there didn't seem to be any footyness.

Unfortunately she seems to have become footy in the last few weeks, only walking very slowly on hard surfaces and looking very sore for a stride when she moves from grass onto a stony track. She is particularly bad when going downhill on a hard surface. Poor thing was unhappy today and I was feeling terrible for having tried this for her.

I've been trying to get hold of the farrier to have her shoes buy back on but no luck yet and I suspect he'll be very busy next week. Do you think that it makes sense to have her shoes put back on first or could it be something else? There is no obvious swelling, heat or digital pulse so I presume that I don't need to bother the vet.

 

[Shilasdair]

[ QUOTE ]
After lots of consultation I decided to try D barefoot this winter as she was already bare on the back and seemed happy and healthy. She seemed fine at first and i was amazed that there didn't seem to be any footyness.

Unfortunately she seems to have become footy in the last few weeks, only walking very slowly on hard surfaces and looking very sore for a stride when she moves from grass onto a stony track. She is particularly bad when going downhill on a hard surface. Poor thing was unhappy today and I was feeling terrible for having tried this for her.

I've been trying to get hold of the farrier to have her shoes buy back on but no luck yet and I suspect he'll be very busy next week. Do you think that it makes sense to have her shoes put back on first or could it be something else? There is no obvious swelling, heat or digital pulse so I presume that I don't need to bother the vet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Horses' feet don't grow so much in the winter...so it could be that she is just wearing them down faster than they grow back.
Or if it has been very wet in her field, her feet could be a little softened, so she feels stones more.
If I were you, though, I'd pop the front shoes back on or buy some of the Old Macs etc boots to protect her feet.
Hope she gets her dancing toes back soon.
S

 

[loobiloo]

I had the shoes taken off one of mine coming into winter and he got really sore. Spoke with my farrier who said give it a bit longer - he's used to having shoes and its wet etc. I was a bit worried but I gave it a couple more weeks and he was ok. Might just need a bit of time to adjust?

 

[Bananarama]

MY pony is barefoot at the moment but then again I guess he isnt in much work at all. But when he does walk on roads he is mostly ok, the odd funny walk on stones but all in all he is ok. He has always had good feet but Id still give your horse some time to ajust and have the farrier look at him to check he is ok.