Haflinger with sore feet

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oldhat

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Just wondering if anyone else out there has a Haffy with sore feet? Or any other horse for that matter! I've only had him 6 weeks and his feet had been trimmed mighty short but of course have grown since then but every time I try to even just walk him across the stoney yard he is just so footy poor lad - fine on grass. I was thinking of shoeing him at next visit, and am looking forward to the barley fields surrounding us being cut so we can galavant in them to our heart's content. However, if his feet are already sore do you think this could really hurt them? My last mare was barefoot (lost her in April after 11 super years) and she was fine in the stubble but I have heard of some almost having their feet shredded doing that. Perhaps I should go ahead and shoe or as I am only just getting him going would judicious use of Keratex sort this out and make him ridable?? If we carry on as is he could even become a bit scared of walking on hard ground as this is how he appears now, it could be just in his head as if you press his feet it doesn't seem to bother him!? Help! Don't want to overface this sweet boy before we've got going!
 
Hate to say it, but I'd be looking towards laminitis with any horse that was footy over stones like that. I am slightly paranoid about it though with owning a laminitic, but I know that mild/early laminitis is often overlooked as a bit of 'footyness'.
I'd monitor diet very closely to see if it makes a difference and maybe try boots until his feet harden up again. The other thing to check for is any thrush that can make them very sore and footy over hard ground.
 
Has he been barefoot for long? What is his diet like? What is he like on hard flat surfaces (like tarmac) rather than rocky ground? Are his walls long?
I wouldn't shoe him as a solution - it won't fix the problem but will just hide it. Def consider it if it turns out he is unlikely to be comfortable working barefoot, but I would look into what is causing the footyness first.
 
Haffies do have a reputation for having poor feet. At my old yard, we had a couple that were just impossible to keep shoes on. That said, mine is barefoot and hacks out/competes/hunts etc just fine.

If you are confident there is no medical problem (laminitis/thrush etc) and that he's been trimmed correctly by a qualified person, I would think his feet maybe need to toughen up. Has he been barefoot long? It might be that he has only been barefoot in a grassy paddock and isn't used to hard ground.

My (qualified, registered) farrier who now specialises in barefoot trimming, says the best thing to do is to try to turn your horse out in a field with a mix of surfaces - stony, sandy, wet, grassy etc so the horse becomes accustomed to walking on all types of ground.

If it were me I would be talking to my farrier (provided I trusted him) and then, if no solution presented, my vet.
 
Well, his walls are not over long, there is no sign of thrush at all, I pick his feet out every day with no probs, there is no heat and he has not been seen to be leaning, rocking or any of the dreadful laminitic stances - and I know what to look for. We have had a huge amount of grass this year and when he got here it had grown a bit too much as I lost my other mare in april just as the grass got going (to choke amongst other horrendous things). However when I got him, the previous owner told me that she had ridden him out on boulder-strewn tracks and he was sore but she thought that it could have been as she was a big lady and thought that her weight might have been pushing him down onto the bad surface. He seems to be moving fine until I try to ride him out of the field. I must try walking him on tarmac - good idea. I don't want to mask this problem if it is something that I can treat. I was so hoping not to have to shoe him as his horn seems in good condition. I do wonder if this is a learned response. Thanks for pointing all this out, I want to get him going but not at the expense of his feet. I'll be watching him like a hawk - I am always aware of the threat of laminitis and he is a big heavy boy and an immensely good doer - very greedy. We got him more because of his fantastic temperament (he was used for riding for the disabled for four years before this lady had him), as my other mare is my first horse and of course needed a new pal, but he is SO wonderful that I will be riding him too! Perhaps I should think about boots before shoeing - I've never used them before but some people seem to love them
 
Even if he doesn't have heat, typical lamanitic stances etc, he could still be footy because of the grass or his feed. Can you feel his digital pulse? This can give you a bit of an early warning.
 
i have a haffy, he was very foot sore two weeks ago, phoned the vet and they said it could be lami. He was on bute and out in a small field as he wont stable. The vet wanted to xray him which was done on monday, the good news was he does not have lami. The vet has put it down to his feet cracking and him walking on his sole. Has yours got a pulse, did he have shoes on before.
 
My guess would be - he's a bloke, therefore a wimp, therefore if you put shoes on him he will be fine...

I have a NF Gelding like this, you honestly would have thought he was seriously injured, he was telling me he could barely walk, I thought he'd done himself a terrible injury, but no, he was perfectly fine once shoes were on...

I have very limited experience of Haflingers, but the ones I have come across have not had the greatest feet, or been good at keeping shoes on, but they have definitely been happier shod than barefoot. We have a lot of gravel tracks down here in the Forest...
 
Have seen a lot of haffies over the years, although obviously not as many as a haffie specialistbreeder.

They do seem to be prone to lami and IR/both. So worth checking this out with yours.
 
He hasn't worn shoes as far as I know for at least two years, I will go and check his pulse (trying not to freak now!). I actually have a vet coming tomorrow to do their teeth and vaccinations so I'll ask them - it's a new vet as we don't trust our old one after he put my poor old mare through two weeks of hell before I took her elsewhere just to lose her. He (haffy!) does otherwise seem to be in fine fettle though of course I've only known him a short while, he is very eager to work (opposite to my lovely grumpy pb welsh cob mare!), but that could also be due to all those years of boredom standing in a field. On our land we do have gravelly stony-ish areas of hard standing around the gates, a shelter with a concrete floor, a boggy bit in a corner and the rest soft grass. The farrier's not due for about another month so I'll see what the vet has to say and also what you helpful people have to add also! THANKS!
 
re him being a bit of a wuss - that is actually the first thing we thought about when we got him! He's not as stoic as our mares and it is the first time I've ever owned a gelding - what an eye opener THAT has been! How different they are to mares - almost empty headed in a way! Much easier to deal with (apart from his strength!!). Obviously we do hope that that is all is it - he is a wuss! But of course I will be following on with the other things! Let's hope that if we go ahead and shoe him, the shoes stay on!!!
 
I personally would get your farrier to come and have a look at him, but as you've said the vet is coming out anyway then there is no harm in him having a look. I would say he probably needs shoeing, maybe just fronts if that gives him more support, or possibly equicast .. what area are you in OP ?
 
He has probably been working heavily on his forehand for years and is therefore likely to be a bit footy after a trim, especially if some sole has been trimmed away.

I have a Highland mare the same, if she has to walk over a stoney surface after a trim you would think the ground is covered in needles. She is out of work at the moment so I try to avoid hard ground, when she is in work and doing roadwork she has front shoes on for her comfort
 
I am in Aberdeenshire near the sea (heaven!). I think I will try just shoeing with front shoes first and see how we go, yes, he will have been lumbering around on his front pins for years and seeing as he was an rda (rudolph steiner in actual fact) horse, it could be that he wasn't shod then either as I know he was used for just carrying kids around in an indoor school. It's always a problem when you don't know the animal's history. Good advice from you all though and I will get the vet to check the pulses as even if I do it myself, I'd rather have a pro doing it! Let's hope these new vets are good... Cheers
 
After a summer being absolutely fine, I am walking the LGL tight rope with my exmoor, due to the sudden flush of grass after the rain. Check his pulses morning and night. Another sign Henry shows is slight puffiness in the area where you would check for pulses. He's definitely footy over stones at the moment, whereas two weeks ago he was storming along. I wouldn't have shoes put on if his feet are sore, for two reasons. 1) Nailing next to inflamed laminae is not a good idea. 2) You will disguise the footiness as the sole is raised off the stones by a cm. This means you'll miss these subtle signs he's showing you, now and it may escalate. Try restricting grazing tonight and re-checking the pulses tomorrow. Henry's go down within a couple of hours, once he's taken off grass. It's a right royal PITA at the moment as two weeks ago they were on winter hay rations and now I'm thinking 'muzzle' in the same paddock!!!
 
Don't rush to put shoes back on. You may well find eventually that shoes are the only answer, but I would suggest you take a look at diet first and foremost before slapping shoes back on. I am no vet, but I suspect that the footiness you are seeing is all down to diet and is most probably low grade laminitis, or the early signs of full blown laminitis - most of these early signs are missed in the shod horse.

I am not saying DON'T shoe him - I'm saying don't shoe him JUST YET, instead - take some time to look into his diet, restrict the amount of grass he's allowed access to and give yourself time to see if a change in management and diet has the positive effect which I suspect it will have. You may find that you don't, after all, need to put shoes back on.
 
Well the vet did come and she had a feel for his pulses and couldn't find anything untoward. I schooled him in a soft paddock yesterday and he went like a dream (especially compared to my other rather cranky mare!). He was fine, I took him for a wee walk through the farmer's yard next door on stony ground and he was mostly fine and on the way home he seemed to forget he was sore and was very proud instead! I'm only just getting him going so everything is still new to him! I am in a bit of a quandrary whether to shoe or not. I think what I might do is obviously let his feet grow a bit more - we have a few weeks till the farrier is due and then get him to have a look and then either just put fronts on or carry on barefoot and perhaps keratex them. The stubble fields will be available soon (thank god!) but now I'm unsure whether this could also make him sore, my last old mare used to love galloping in them at dizzying speeds and was barefoot with no probs but I've heard of some horses who find it hard going. What do you think?
 
we have a haffy mare that came with horrendous feet and they were trimmed too short on her first trim, I also think she could be a little flat footed, we had her trimmed by a barefoot trimmer then rather than a farrier and she never developed anywhere near as much concavity as the others did. We have had her 4 years now and she has hacked out barefoot for hours at a time on both roads and tracks, but there have been times when Sami has got off and led her on stony tracks though. She still tends to be a little footy on stony ground but is completely sound on tarmac. It may be worth persevering if you don't want to put shoes on him and seeing how he goes, I suppose it is down to your preference really. I hope you enjoy him, I am totally addicted to the breed!
 
Well lots of food for thought - thanks everyone! I am now toying with keeping him barefoot for the winter to see how we go, of course leading him rather than riding him on stony ground would be a good idea! By the way, I had never even SEEN a haffy before we got him but as soon as we clapped eyes on him we had to have him! He is such a sweety! We are in love - me and my partner - with him, oh and eachother!!! It's like owning a mini heavy horse! My pb welsh cob also seems to be in love! Her best friend Molly who died in April used to boss her around mercilessly for 11 years, now she is in charge but not in a nasty way and he just gets out of the way. People say haffys are thick, but I think he's pretty clever to have sussed her out so quickly (5 weeks!)
 
I have had a similar dilema, Marley is barefoot never worn shoes but suffered a bruised sole recently, very footy and sore so bute and field rest for 3 weeks, I gave myself a headache shall I, shan't shoe him, anyway he is back in work now just walking and trotting for the fisrt two weeks over all terrrains, now back to full work everywhere particulary soft stubble fields. I am so glad I did not shoe him. Sometimes myself included we want a quick fix but its so much better to wait it out. Of course it all depends on how much and what work you do. My mare is shod, been that way since I have had her, I would not have the patience to let her go barefoot as it takes a long time to condition their feet... Horse for courses and all that. Good Luck
 
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