HELP!! Farrier dropped bombshell yesterday!! Long sorry....

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I really need some advice on what to do next, am new to this so be gentle!:).....

My Farrier came yesterday to shoe my lad, he is a Dutch Warmblood and I bought him 12 months ago....

I have not had any issues with lameness, he doesnt show any signs of discomfort at all..... I ride him most days, either doing flatwork, showjumping, cross country schooling (weather permitting!!) or hacking out!

When I bought him, his hooves weren't great and his front are uneven size... He also had double clips on the front... My Farrier changed them to single clips but he kept pulling one off in the field, so we went back to double clips, which he kept on... He said that he had week heels and had to make the shoes longer at the back for support, which I don't think is uncommon! The quality of his hooves are now a lot better after 12 months of supplements...

Anyway, last time he was shod, farrier put on natural balance shoes, with no clips at all, and requested he now be shod every 5 weeks... Yesterday he came to shoe him and has now decided to tell me that he is loading all his weight onto his larger foot and that he has no heel at all and he has put on a heart bar shoe!!

I called him to query the heart bar shoe : Here comes the worst bit, he told me that I cant do anything with him, other than walking him... When I asked him how long I had to just walk him for he just said that it was 'work in progress' and that sadly it is inevitable, due to his breeding, that he is going to go lame!! The next step, he said, is to pack it with silicone, which he added is going to be really expensive!! .. Is this not all a little extreme, seen as it is the first I have known about it, and he is totally sound!!!!!

What do I do? I have gone from having a horse that I been competing on (only at a low level SJ mind!!) to a horse that has been rendered useless!!!
 
I'd call your vet. Get them out and ask for their opinion. Then get them to call your farrier and discuss it.

Have you noticed any difference in the shape of your horses feet? You could maybe get another farrier (a good one... Maybe your vet could recommend?) for a 2nd opinion.
 
Sounds fishy to me... I would deffinatley be getting a second opinion.... speak to your vet and ask then to recommend a good farrier
 
:p Sorry galaxy didn't see your post .... lol i have pretty much said the same. Great midns think alike lol
 
is he a remedial farrier? I would get a second opinion and I would also speak to your vet and explain what he has said.

I would also ask why he changed the shoeing last time to natural balance.
 
ditto the others - i would look for a second opinion. He must be thinking/seeing something coming and he seems to be doing stuff as a preventative measure but not explaining or justifying why he is doing it. If my horse was not lame then I would continue to work it if the farrier cant justify the reasoning for not working it in more than walk.

if it aint broke then dont fix it seems to come to mind but a farrier can probably see a lot more than we can. Not sure why he changed from 2 clips to a single clip - there was prob a good reason why he had 2 clips on in the first place! My horse was barefoot, then shod with single clips, became trippy and had low heels, went natural balance and now is back to two clips and rolled toes which suits her fine and her heels have started to grow!
 
I would be very concerned at the fact that in 12 months the farrier hasn't been able to build his heals up. I would definitely say it is time for a new farrier.
 
Are you able to put up any pictures of the feet at the moment? From the front, from the side and a view of underneath?

I think you need a second opinion. The loading of that front foot may not relate to growth problems in that foot at all, it may relate to the diagonal hind or another anatomical feature
 
Thank you for all your replies.....

I have just spoken to my Vet... He sort of said the same thing, in that if it isn't broke, don't try and fix it....

He has said that Warmbloods are renowned for having uneven weight bearing on their front heals and that by trying to correct it, you can cause issues in other parts of the leg!!!

He has advised me to do very little with him with this heart bar show on... He did have some heat in his Pastern (on the leg with the heart bar shoe) after being shod yesterday, so will just have to keep my eye on him.....
 
Hmmm, all sounds very strange to me!

I would have the foot X-Rayed to get a true idea of the foot balance. I would then be looking at recommendations for a new farrier...

Where in the country are you? Is there only one foot with a heartbar on?!!?! If so, I would be getting it off ASAP!
 
KatB said:
I would have the foot X-Rayed to get a true idea of the foot balance. I would then be looking at recommendations for a new farrier...
Click to expand...

Me too, in fact when the warmblood I have on loan arrived with similar issues this was one of the first things we did. In spite of previous regular attention from a farrier he had badly collapsed heels and his pedal bones had rotated flat (and were also unbalanced laterally) We had to trim and shoe according to the Xrays, nearly 9 months down the line he has grown nearly a complete new hoof. The heels will always grow slowly but he is trimmed accordingly.
 
I would get a second opion from farrier and ask Vet's advice aswell.

I had a similar probelm with my horse- but he was very obviously lame. I had the best farrier in the world, who tried bar shoes, equipack etc but he had no heels and his foot confirmation was awful. Tried the bar shoes to distribute his weight more evenly and eventually after months of unsoundness the vet advised he was in constant pain and i had him put to sleep 3 weeks ago. (He literally couldnt carry his own weight anymore, but this was largely due to conformation and previous malnourishment that he never recovered from) I think he was a very extreme case though (he had typical tb's feet) and i had 2nd and 3rd opinions done.

If he isnt lame yet, its a good sign! Get the vet and another farrier to diagnose- some horses work very well in bar shoes. :)
 
I would get the vet to do a lameness assesment and ask them for their opinion on the feet. They might want to xray. (My TB had his feet xrayed to check for signs of navicular) Don't tell them what the farrier said until you've heard what the vet has to say.
 
You need to be upfront with your current farrier and say that you don't understand the reasons for what he has done and said. The ideal situation is to get your vet and farrier to look at the horse together. They are the professionals and should be happy to do so. Are you there when he is shod? I would want to know the reasons for the changes he has made. If you are not happy then get a second opinion but you should advise current farrier of this. It all seems rather extreme when the horse seems ok to you. Plenty of horses have one foot bigger but it could mean there is something going on somewhere causing unequal loading.
 
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