Lame after shoeing

[Michen]

Day after shoeing (possibly day of but Not noticed) my horse is short in front on both feet. Nothing drastic but noticeable when I got on mostly on the hard. Feet are a little warm.

I’ve buted and turned out- should I ask farrier to come back and refit shoes or wait until Monday and see if he’s sound by then?

Or do the shoes need removing straight away if nail bind? Which seems unlikely in both feet.. so maybe just taken too much off?

Horse has good strong feet and never had an issue post shoeing in the 4 years I’ve had him (same farrier)

He did event last weekend but ground was decent.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would certainly ring the farrier and let him know and ask if he did anything different personally I would not have given Bute I would have put onto small area turn out and watched what happens.
If it’s nail bind you will have slowed the job down. Do any of the nails look suspect ?

 

[Michen]

I would certainly ring the farrier and let him know and ask if he did anything different personally I would not have given Bute I would have put onto small area turn out and watched what happens.
If it’s nail bind you will have slowed the job down. Do any of the nails look suspect ?

Nope the nails looked absolutely fine. Potentially the feet look shorter than normal but I'm unsure if I'm just looking for it.

I figured he would be best off pottering around in the field given he's comfy enough on grass and the ground is fairly soft..

Argh I probably shouldn't have been as quick to give the bute though as I guess now I won't know how he really is! Doh.

 

[Shilasdair]

I think you should restrict his grazing/reduce the sugar in his diet and assume laminitis.
If it isn't - no harm done.
If it is - you are preventing more damage.
Not much point calling the farrier as if he has overtrimmed, he can't exactly put the horn back on - so best just let the feet grow for a week. I absolutely would mention it before the next trim/shoeing, though.

 

[AmyMay]

I’d be giving your farrier abuzz, personally, for a chat.

 

[teddypops]

My pony was lame on both front feet after the farriers last visit. I called him and he came back, he couldn’t see anything wrong, but he refitted both front shoes and she was fine. I would get your farrier back.

 

[Michen]

I think you should restrict his grazing/reduce the sugar in his diet and assume laminitis.
If it isn't - no harm done.
If it is - you are preventing more damage.
Not much point calling the farrier as if he has overtrimmed, he can't exactly put the horn back on - so best just let the feet grow for a week. I absolutely would mention it before the next trim/shoeing, though.

That hadn't even crossed my mind to be honest- as it literally happened after the shoeing. He's not on lush grazing and he is super super fit, there's not an ounce of extra fat on him at the moment he looks amazing.

I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it's not lami though!

Was keen to avoid box rest as he's got (treated and is sound) arthiritis in his hocks

 

[Michen]

I've text the farrier, just waiting for a reply

 

[milliepops]

OH would have wanted to know if you were his client so i think you've done the right thing there.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I would expect the farrier t come out immediately tbh, in case it is nail bind. If it isn't the farrier is probalby the best person to check the feet for laminitis in the 1st instance, although I would have expected him to notice any problem when he trimmed the feet

 

[Michen]

He just text back and said unlikely to be nail bind in both feet and if it is he will get worse quickly. Said to see how he is tomorrow/mon and keep him updated.

I think that’s fair enough, if it’s an overzealous trim I would have thought leaving the feet alone a bit would be best rather than shoe removal?

Shall I not bute him further so I can see how he truly is?

 

[AmyMay]

He just text back and said unlikely to be nail bind in both feet and if it is he will get worse quickly. Said to see how he is tomorrow/mon and keep him updated.

I think that’s fair enough, if it’s an overzealous trim I would have thought leaving the feet alone a bit would be best rather than shoe removal?

Shall I not bute him further so I can see how he truly is?

In that case I’d get him in on a good deep bed and phone your vet.

 

[Shilasdair]

He just text back and said unlikely to be nail bind in both feet and if it is he will get worse quickly. Said to see how he is tomorrow/mon and keep him updated.

I think that’s fair enough, if it’s an overzealous trim I would have thought leaving the feet alone a bit would be best rather than shoe removal?

Shall I not bute him further so I can see how he truly is?

Your horse is lame bilaterally. That's unlikely to be a nail prick or a nail bind, but could be from the foot being over-trimmed creating thin and sensitive soles. Or it could be from laminitis from something like EMS or concussion on hard ground (until it rained today, it's like concrete here in Glos).
Or - as a longer shot, it could be arthritic changes in the front feed - ringbone, sidebone, perhaps.
I'd wait a week without bute and see how it goes.

 

[milliepops]

you've been happy with your farrier up to now i think? and he knows the feet well, so i think I'd go with what he has said and give him an update tomorrow. I would not give any more bute.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I think I would bring him in to be on the safe side and not feed bute you don't want to hide any discomfort and see how he is tomorrow.

 

[Goldenstar]

If its a case of shortening the toes a little to much it will right it’s self in a few days .
We berate farriers who leave the toes long so I always cut one a little slack if they have been a tad over zealous the other way .
Rarely this can be the first warning you get that something is beginning to go amiss in the foot department however it would have to happen again for me to worry about that .
Defiantly don’t give any more Bute.
lf he’s not back to normal within seven days you will need to think again .

 

[Carrottom]

I would keep to usual routine, no bute, and update the farrier in 24 hours.

 

[Michen]

.

Your horse is lame bilaterally. That's unlikely to be a nail prick or a nail bind, but could be from the foot being over-trimmed creating thin and sensitive soles. Or it could be from laminitis from something like EMS or concussion on hard ground (until it rained today, it's like concrete here in Glos).
Or - as a longer shot, it could be arthritic changes in the front feed - ringbone, sidebone, perhaps.
I'd wait a week without bute and see how it goes.

Clearly I’m aware my horse is lame bilaterally- I wrote the post. ?

 

[Michen]

Yep really happy with my farrier, and his feet, and his landings etc. They have also been x rayed this spring (not for any reason other than making sure all is well).

Thanks everyone for the advice, it’s good to know nail bind is unlikely in two feet which is what I wasn’t sure about.

I won’t give any more bute but I’m going to leave him on his current routine (in during day, out at night) but if he’s not any better tomorrow morning when he comes in I’ll leave him in.

 

[Michen]

If its a case of shortening the toes a little to much it will right it’s self in a few days .
We berate farriers who leave the toes long so I always cut one a little slack if they have been a tad over zealous the other way .
Rarely this can be the first warning you get that something is beginning to go amiss in the foot department however it would have to happen again for me to worry about that .
Defiantly don’t give any more Bute.
lf he’s not back to normal within seven days you will need to think again .

For sure, farriers are only human and he’s done a great job with him for a long time.

 

[Equi]

Fair dos for the farrier replying. I had one take WAY too much off just one foot of my mini, typically the day before a show. Poor mini very lame barely putting foot down so i text farrier and he saw the text but didn't reply. I text again and again he saw it but didn't reply. Safe to say he was given the boot and i told anyone i knew used him about the indecent. Funny i haven't heard of anyone using him lately..i eventually had to get a new farrier to come very regularly to balance his other hooves to ensure he didn't go totally wonky cause the one foot was so horrifically overdone and im now "that" person who tells the farrier what to do. lucky my now farrier has been with me many years and can be trusted but also knows to listen lol

 

[Michen]

Fair dos for the farrier replying. I had one take WAY too much off just one foot of my mini, typically the day before a show. Poor mini very lame barely putting foot down so i text farrier and he saw the text but didn't reply. I text again and again he saw it but didn't reply. Safe to say he was given the boot and i told anyone i knew used him about the indecent. Funny i haven't heard of anyone using him lately..i eventually had to get a new farrier to come very regularly to balance his other hooves to ensure he didn't go totally wonky cause the one foot was so horrifically overdone and im now "that" person who tells the farrier what to do. lucky my now farrier has been with me many years and can be trusted but also knows to listen lol

That's pretty rubbish of him tbh. Poor you and poor mini, it's amazing how crippled they can be but I suppose mm's wrong can be drastic. I did once have a farrier (not this farrier!) take so much off my horses feet (not Bog) that he ended up with an emergency vet out to give him full on pain meds. He was on a deep bed and box rest for near on a month and the feet took a long time to recover. Farrier did however pay the vet bill with little fuss and whilst I didn't use him again because he was a new farrier anyway, he did remain professional throughout the whole thing. But he always really, really messed up those feet.

This is no where near like that!

 

[Equi]

I was a bit gobsmacked tbh cause he had a good deal here doing my 5 (or might have been 6 at the time whos counting) then up the road to my friends who had about 14 at the time. He literally said "theres nothing to come off this one but ill run the rasp about to make them show neat" then proceeded to take a full 1cm off. I measured the clipping just after he left. 1cm to a 30" mini is a flipping heck of a lot of hoof. We obv didn't get to the show so lost the entry fees along with the price of him being crippled thankfully i had some bute about.

 

[Shilasdair]

.
Clearly I’m aware my horse is lame bilaterally- I wrote the post. ?

Apologies if my point was unclear - it's very unlikely that a farrier would nail prick or nail bind BOTH feet to make your horse bilaterally lame - therefore I don't agree with you that it's nail bind.
And there is no call to be rude when I was trying to be helpful.

 

[Michen]

Apologies if my point was unclear - it's very unlikely that a farrier would nail prick or nail bind BOTH feet to make your horse bilaterally lame - therefore I don't agree with you that it's nail bind.
And there is no call to be rude when I was trying to be helpful.

Eh? Where did I say it was nail bind!? My original post even says “Or do the shoes need removing straight away if nail bind? Which seems unlikely in both feet.. so maybe just taken too much off?”

And my farrier also said unlikely to be nail bind so seems most likely to be toes taken back too much...

Which is why I didn’t have the farrier back today to remove them.

 

[Michen]

I’m not there this am but apparently his feet are nice and cold so that’s a good sign. Hopefully when I’m there later he will be back to normal

 

[SO1]

Maybe if still lame take a photo of feet and send to farrier asking if could be as too much was taken off and if that is not the case then you need to think about other issues. Could be bruising?

There is a lot of lami about, the sugar in the grass is high due to rain and sun. Laminitis it not just a disease of fat natives, it can be caused by Cushings. You mention your horse has arthritis how old is it and has it been injected with steroids recently as part of the treatment for arthritis.

No bute and checking for pulses in case of laminitis. I am hoping for your sake it is not laminitis, such a cruel disease and hard to manage and sounds you have the weight under control already.

With the weather as it has been and so many cases of lami in horses that have never had it before, if still not sound and if there is any sign of pulse I would not hang around and wait for a week to get a vet out or box rest. Is he worse on turns as that can be another indication of lami?

 

[poiuytrewq]

When my farrier first shod my newer horse he lamed him in front. He was sore, too sore to ride for about a week. Previous yard said he was always sore after shoeing and not to worry.
I did call my farrier and chat about it with him and I’m really glad I did. Now he knows he’s a bit sensitive he can work with it and the horse has been fine every shoeing since.
So yes absolutely best to keep farriers informed in such events.

 

[Flicker]

This used to happen reasonably frequently with a horse I used to have on loan who had quite flat, TB-type feet. Eventually we went for pads under his shoes, and farrier would trim him just slightly longer than he would ‘normal’ feet. He presented in a similar way to how you describe yours, and noticeably lame on off-road tracks (I had to lead him home several times).
Hope it is nothing serious!

 

[Michen]

The feet are cold, no pulses but he’s still just not quite right in trot on concrete. Farrier coming later and going to call my vet this morning but looking again at the feet I do think they look shorter than usual. But then even at 5 weeks bang on they’d been growing like crazy so maybe the trim was just more than normal and too much.

I don’t know. He’s in now so I’ll do whatever my vet recommends with regards to turnout.

My fear is bruising that’s been aggravated by the shoeing, he has been eventing this season albiet on ground that I’ve been happy with. But it’s something he suffered from once years ago which is why I’m so careful what he runs on! He has good thick soles and concavity and spent a year out of shoes until earlier this calendar year.

Re the arthritis yes he had a hock jabbed with steroid but it was a good while ago now (this summer though).

He’s already on a lami friendly routine ie restricted grazing and turned out at night etc. Can’t imagine it’s lami with cold feet and no pulses but I’ll put the idea to my vet.

Such a bummer, he was in great form. Hopefully just a question of a tiny bit too much hoof off but