Is a (foot) sore horse more likely to lose condition?

[Darraxi]

Hi all,

I’ve been trying to take my TB barefoot for about a year now - various reasons as to why it has not been a smooth transition, but not the point of my post. A couple months back i took over his trimming myself but i have made the mistake several times i think of taking off more than he was ready for, and whilst his feet are slowly looking better and I’ve got him landing heel first, lately he seems sorer than ever. Even sometimes going back into the field he has seemed stiff and sore; it’s been weeks since I’ve seen him galloping back out or about. I’ve left his feet for now to grow some wall back, am buying another set of boots to boot all 4 for riding/walking (sharp gravelly forest tracks) and i am having a barefoot trimmer come see us to discuss things, so hopefully we will be making progress again and he can at the very least be comfortable in the field.

My question though is to do with weight; we had a couple very cold nights (-4°) and he has dropped a fair bit of condition. Interestingly i was there a couple days after and his weight seemed fine/unchanged, but i remember thinking he seemed tucked up despite it being a relatively mild day. His feet/legs also I remember were unusually cold which would suggest to me he hadn’t really been moving. It wasn’t until a couple days later he started to look thinner, especially on the hindquarters. I had this happen before when I moved him yards; it was an unseasonably cold/wet night, he had been rugged fairly regularly up until that point, but was now in isolation in a completely new environment and i believe due to anxiety at this he didn’t graze for the first few days (hayed at night) or move very much from one spot; i couldn’t get over until a couple days after the move and noted he was tucked up, then dropped a lot of weight soon after (had i known all this i would of course have rugged him the first few days and/or had him hayed during the day too - live and learn).

I have kept him unrugged so far this side of the year and for various reasons had hoped to continue to, but it is supposed to get cold again so will rug him for now in hopes it’ll help us gain some condition back. I know he is a thoroughbred but as an individual horse he really has never once struck me as needing a rug; he has been fine in that kind of temperature before, grows a good coat and generally keeps weight on well (sometimes even too well), but I have only seen him through one winter and was told at the time to rug him “because he is a thoroughbred”, or I’d have to leave the yard. He came out the winter fat. We left.

I’m sorry to ramble but I am just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the matter; is it possible that the fact he has been quite sore/stiff combined with the cold weather be what has caused the weight loss, more than just the weather itself? This is my instinctual thought but I may just be seeing what I want to see, or misjudging how hardy he actually is. Please believe I’m trying to do right by him and it breaks my heart every time to see him so sore, but i do not want to re-shoe him as i feel he is the type that in future would end up a barefoot or bust case anyway. Either way i will rug him and leave his feet for the next little while until he gains some condition back and is at least comfortable in the field again (even just having left them a week he seems better).

Thank you for any thoughts/advice

 

[be positive]

They can definitely drop condition if in discomfort, it they are in real pain the weight can drop alarmingly quickly, if they are standing around to avoid moving it will go even faster if the weather is bad, you are on the right lines getting the rug back on and ad lib forage, leave the feet until the professional has seen him although I might be tempted to get the vet and have him checked over just in case there is something else going on that is being missed by having several options.
On the barefoot side of things I would expect him to be mainly self trimming if ridden without boots once he is comfortable again, ours generally just require a tiny bit of toe or flare removed and very little else when in full work.

 

[twiggy2]

If you are repeatedly making the horse sore stop doing the trimming yourself, I have done my own for years but if I had had any lameness issues then I would have got my farrier to come and look, even with may years experience I had my farrier out to cast an eye over them a couple of times a year.
Isolation (stress), cold (more stress), new yard (even more stress) can all cause massive weight loss in their own right as can pain.
If he is not moving much due to pain I would have the vet out as I would want to be giving painkillers, I would also want to rule out laminitis due to stress or incorrect trimming. If he is too sore you may have to change his management short term to give his feet a chance to grow.
The risk of colic is massively increased when they are not moving about and you need to check he is able and willing to walk as far as he needs to for water.

 

[fusspot]

Yes they can drop weight quickly if sore or in pain.Tbh I would not be leaving it until a Trimmer can see the horse.If the horse is looking sore/stiff I would be getting a vet to give some pain relief as you are going to start running into other issues if he doesn’t start moving around a bit more.As much as you don’t want to put shoes on,I think in this case you need to look more at the horses comfort.If you have over trimmed,then notoriously at this time of the year it takes longer for horses feet to grow as not as much goodness in the grass so he could be in discomfort for quite a while-you are also increasingly running the risk of Stress Laminitis especially with the colder weather also about to return.If I was in your shoes I would have a light pair of fronts put on for a few months and then when the feet have grown a bit and he is comfortable,try again with going barefoot.My boy was barefoot all of his life and tbh I would never have contemplated trimming him myself,especially at the start when trying to establish the barefoot process.Hope he comes right soon.x