Hind hoof pain? Uncomfortable downhill...

BarnesBridge

BarnesBridge

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Hello, this is my first post on here, I'm at my wits end and need some friendly advice! Sorry, this is long... I've recently started bringing my 10yo TB back into work after colic surgery last year. Since I've started hacking out again I've noticed that he seems uncomfortable going down hill. He naps, snatches his back feet up and practically tiptoes! While he was ill I'd had him barefoot, but put front shoes on a couple of months ago as he was pretty footsore and this seemed to fix the problem (he used to be shod all round pre-surgery). However, recently he's gotten worse again, and has now started trying to buck going up and downhill. He's not by nature a naughty horse, so I'm sure something must be bothering him. He had his saddle checked in June and I was told it couldn't fit him better and he has no soreness through his back. His teeth are due a check, so I'll get that sorted but I just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar with their ned and whether shoeing him behind might help? After that I'm going to have to admit defeat and call my vet! Any comments are welcome :)
 
My little driving pony is usually shod all round but we took hinds off as she went on loan for riding only. She became footsore quite quickly when back home and driving again and this showed most in being very reluctant going down hill. Back to normal in day or two with hinds back on.
 
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This can also indicate hock/sacral joint issues, the shoes may have helped to support the back end-if that makes sense
 
Lack of work can cause muscle loss which might have been supporting any weak areas, he may also have lost abdominal strength which is key to the hind end working well and allowing him to use himself correctly. I wonder if you need to strengthen him by doing plenty of long and low ground work first - long reining etc would help condition both his body and feet first without needing to balance with a rider. If he is foot sore it could be that the hind end movement is not allowing him to land correctly, video his foot landing to see if it is heel/flat first. Also how is he trimmed if he has under run feet at all - low heels/long toes which is possible after shoeing, then he might still be landing toe first which is putting strain on his hind end.....

My Kissing Spines horse used to do this (not saying this is your problem, just that the muscle that was supporting his body in being able to work properly needs to be put back on ) and it was a result of losing fitness/muscle/strength. The ground work helped him no end and 9yrs post op he is able to walk down a hill in a straight line, pre-op he used to zigzag and panic at downhill as he know he couldn't cope, also agree if he has sore hocks that could be his issue and that can be caused by poor foot balance.

Just musing, but it may help - good luck, have never enjoyed only having 2 hoofs on the floor at a time.
 
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My KS horse (before I knew he had KS) had a complete hissy fit re going down a hill out hacking. It was reasonably steep (altho we don't really get proper hills in S Cambs...!) but it was a proper surfaced track, not spooky/slippy etc. He just wouldn't do it, so in the end I had to reverse him down. We don't go that way very often, so not sure if it was a behavioural thing, altho he's not usually a planter. Anyway, he turned out to have KS, had the surgery at the beginning of June & is now back in work, but we haven't hacked out yet, let alone tried The Hill, so not sure whether addressing the KS has fixed the problem or not.

Sorry, probs no help! I am dying to see whether fixing the KS will help with other stuff, like being a bad traveller, flipping out at comps etc, but we've only done about 3 weeks under saddle so far, so haven't done much yet.

T x
 
catembi my KS horse used to have panic attacks about going downhill - he doesn't any more, still a bit of a spooky idiot, but the spooking is actually rideable rather than feeling you might die - might take a couple of attempts for your horse to realise it doesn't hurt anymore tho so get him fit 1st!! Fingers crossed for you - I liken sitting on a KS horse to sitting on a razor blade - most unpleasant, I was a nervous wreck getting back on post op but for the most part he has tried his best to be a superstar!
 
Thank you for the info, BethH! I am really hoping that the KS surgery might resolve mine's more extreme behaviour. He is an ex-racer & has 2 moods - super-chilled & psychotic, & the latter occurs at parties, so I am hoping that it was connected to pain & maybe the fact that he'd had to travel to get there, which might have made him sore...? We will see!

T x
 
Wouldn't be surprised if it was pain connected - I think they just panic as they know they aren't 100% healthy & standing in a fixed position on a lorry deffo wouldn't help! My vet suggested PTS if no surgery as my horse was bordering on unmanageable, I couldn't even lead him to turn out in the field as he was so spooky, he just used to do the black horse impression every few steps he was terrified of life! It takes a while for them to get their heads straight and for you to get your nerve back as you constantly think "what if, what if." But my horse was the same he'd go from a poppet to flipping out within seconds, he was unbelievably sharp, I used to liken him to a schizophrenic, I mostly deal with just the nice person now!!!! Good luck all my fingers and toes crossed that you get to go and have fun with him!
 
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Thank you everyone for your thoughts :) Just in case anyone was interested, he had hind shoes back on today and I rode this evening. He is already a hundred times better, and walked normally in a straight line (if a bit tentatively!) downhill. I'm sure he must anticipate the pain, so I'm hoping he'll keep improving when he realises it doesn't hurt any more. Definitely a happier chap though! He actually had ulcers before which we treated and my next step was going to be looking into KS but he doesn't appear to have any back pain... Horses are a mystery, I sometimes wonder why we do it!!!!
 
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