Is this shoeing ok?

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Shepherdess

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I have moved to a new area, and therefore a new farrier, who has been twice now. I am a bit worried that I can't easily get the hoofpick between the back of the shoe and the heel/frog. My concern is that if it looks this close with the foot raised, what is happening when the hoof is bearing her weight and the frog and heel spread? I have wondered if she seems intermittently a bit lame. Any advice or comments gratefully received :-)

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Please dont take my word as anything, but just wanted to comment because this was similar to a shoeing that my horse had when I first noticed him being "footy around tight turns! His shoes were short on the heel and pushed right in on his frogs like yours. I remember looking and thinking exactly the same as you. When he loads the foot and leans into a turn that shoe must compromise the frog! I could be wrong. Just funny that you think the same. My horse has much less heel than yours, I would say her feet are a nice but I see what you mean, be interested to see what the pros say on this. Does she show any discomfort on turning tight on concrete at all?
 
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Thanks jessieblue - she nods a bit on the right rein but not on the left. The worst thing is she has gone from loving jumping to not wanting to even approach a jump. Please see my post "ACPAT physio Wiltshire". It was 'be positive's' advice that had me thinking about feet & shoes. If you read that thread, she has now had her week's prescribed rest - and is just the same! So I take it that you changed your farrier and now all is well?
 
Can't comment on the shoeing as I'm not a farrier but wanted to say those frogs are something to be proud of!
 
Can you take some photos to show the whole foot, it may be that the heel is under run and the farrier is trying to give plenty of support, although the frogs appear to be very good so I think it unlikely, the shoes do appear wide, again there may be a reason. The lameness is most likely to stem from the foot and the shoes could be contributing, why not try a period without and see how she is, or speak to the farrier about your concerns, if he does not know she is lame he cannot offer any help regarding changing how he fits the shoes.

The fact you cannot get a hoofpick between the shoe and the frog is not a problem usually, if fitted long at the heel you will often find you will struggle to get one in there.
 
No I didnt change the farrier actually. Its a very long and complicated story, the horse was very sick for a while at the time I noticed the shoes were smaller than usual. They were actually a size smaller, I have no idea why. They looked too short and were sitting way under the heel and pushing into the frog like yours, but even shorter. Anyway this was when my poor horse happened to get sick with an infection/peritonitis and he spent 4 weeks unable to lie down and with a following infection/abscess in his rump frompenicillin injections and subsequent antibiotics and antiinflamms. It was a real mess. After recovering he went lame in front. Well actually I had noticed him being sore on turns when walking in hand. Both ways he would shift his weight quickly off the fron foot on the inside of the turn. I thought it might be because of his back end being so sore, so watched closely for a while until he went lame on the lunge. It looked like he had bruising/laminitis from the concussion or possibly from the toxaemia. Anyway it was very mild and we treated as if lami and he resolved quickly. Same farrier still but my horse has just gone footy again with same symptoms. Very mild lami type soreness when turning. Im not sure its not a problem excaserbated by shoes not fitting correctly or a low grade lami due to the very rich grass that has been around. Again he resonded well to reducing sugars/soaking hay/grazing muzzle, so I have no idea. Time will tell I guess. Your horses feet are much better than mine. Heels and frogs look fab!!
 
Shepardess, soes she look sore if you turn her tightly on a hard surface?? I always think that is a good way to spot any discomfort in the fronts. The pivoting and loading will often show up if there is any soreness especially in the foot/heel. My horse is sound in a striaght line in walk and trot but was scratchy when turning tight.
 
They are definitely too long in the heels - the farrier is being lazy and not shortening the heels.

Discuss with him and if he won't reduce the length of the shoes start looking for someone else.

Your horse has lovely frogs!
 
Shoeing looks great to me, i prefer a good length at the heels as it gives them much more support.
Plenty of horses have fab frogs (as yours does) with shoes on!
 
be positive I have taken quite a few photos (they are in an album). Will try to include a couple here but have forgotten how to do it!
 
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