Lameness. Do you call the Vet or the Farrier?

Meowy Catkin

Meowy Catkin

Meow!
Joined
19 July 2010
Messages
22,635
Visit site
I was just wondering what the general thoughts on this topic were. A few months ago I found my mare hopping lame (no obvious injury, blood or swelling) and called the vet out straight away. The vet gave the horse a strong painkiller and requested that the shoe was taken off. My farrier commented that I should have called him out before the vet.

What do you do and why?
 
personally the farrier as he is cheaper and will rule out any feet problems before calling the vet. unless of course it looks like the horse has broken something or you are certain it isn't a foot problem.

My farrier is also a very expeienced horse person and can roughly diagnose most this. for example my horse wasn't right and he said he thinks he was colicing (only mildly) due to the way he had worn his hind shoes. needless to say he was right! obviously as colic isn't something he can treat i then called the vet.
 
Id call my vet unless my horse had just been shod, as then Id think maybe it was nail bind. Also my vet would take the shoe off if it was shoe related.
 
I normally call the farrier first if there's no obvious heat/swelling etc & he comes out & if he doesn't think it's anything wrong with the hoof I call the vet. Just because my horse once came in really lame, called the vet he said he had bruised his toe charged me £60 then after a couple of days he wasn't much better so spoke to my farrier & he came out & found a corn, treated it & withing 5 days he was back with his shoe on & being ridden. If there was something obviously wrong with a leg rather than a foot then would always call the vet.
 
Depends where the lameness appeared to be seated.

I rate both my Farrier and my Vet (Equine only) extremely highly by the way, using the Farrier as a first port of call is no reflection on my Vet, just common sense, he'd tell me to call the Farrier first anyway, he always does.

Obviously in the foot then I call my farrier, my Vet would charge me $40 for a call out, $45 for a consultation/discuss case, $45 to inject with depocillin then he'd tell me to get the Farrier in.:)

Farrier charges me $30, he's certified and very, very competent.

I get needles, syringes and depocillin off the shelf at the farmstore for a third of the price my Vet charges and I am quite capable of giving needles or tri-tabs.
 
vet.

my horse came in the other day a little "footie"... i wouldnt call it properly lame... i thought then any issues and the vet would have been called - as it happened she was fine the next day - i think she had just been a pillock in the field.

farrier may be good.... but thats what vets are there for! :)
 
Although other horse health care professionals can be excellent at spotting problems etc and are often right, legally only vets are allowed to diagnose. If anyone else does and they are wrong, I am not sure where that leaves anyone as far as insurance etc goes (except up various creeks with no paddles.)

So while I have had multiple wrong diagnoses by vets, with huge health and financial consequences, I do call a vet, if only to cover the proverbial (very large) behind.
 
If the horse is lame then both, which ever could come out first, you'd need either anyway no matter which way you looked at it as you'd need some pain relief and no doubt the shoe taking off, I'd always want my farriers opinion no matter what but I'd always want the vet as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top