My pony is foot sore

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HaffiesRock

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I need some advice please. I bought my pony 2 months ago. She is a 9 year old Appaloosa x New Forest. She is barefoot and has been a broodmare all of her life. She is barefoot and has been perfectly sound until last week. We have had constant rain for around 5 weeks now. My mare lives out and the fields are so flooded and muddy.

She came in last week very sore on all hooves. On looking at her she had heat in one front hoof, no digital pulses or signs of abscess etc. I called my farrier who suggested a deep abscess as I couldnt see anything. The next day the heat was gone but she was still ouchy so the farrier suggested a set of shoes. (I am against shoes). Shes been coming in for a couple of hours a day and I started using Keratex hoof hardener. She has improved a little but is still unhappy on stony ground and looks stiff on regular ground. She is still fetlock deep in water and mud with no access to a stable or hard ground.

Is this just sensitivity caused by her saturated hooves, or should I be getting the vet out? There is no heat or pulses in any foot, she is bright an happy with no history of laminitis. She in out 24/7 and there is no grass what so ever. She is fed hay in the field and a scoop of fibre cubes and lo cal balancer.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Any advice is much appreciated.
 
I would get the vet to have a look. If she is used to being out all year and hasn't had shoes on then I think there must be something going on and she could do with some medication to make her more comfortable.
 
I thought there was no grass - but I caught my two grazing the other day - there is no grass as they are scoffing it as fast as it appears - my sensitive one is footy as a result :(
 
emmahaywood1 said:
There isnt a blade of grass in the field, and hasnt been for a good 3 or 4 weeks. :o/
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Are you feeding hay then? I'd be tempted to treat as laminitis and see if she improves. It's surprizing what grass they can nibble in seemingly bare fields and that grass will be highly stressed due to rain and shortness of grass and it has been cool at night and all that = high sugar content.
The stiffness is a big indicator along with the footiness to me, even in the absence of a digital pulse.
Treating her as if she has laminitis wont hurt either.

Whatever the cause, I hope she improves soon.
 
I would get the vet then as soon as you can especially if you can't dry the feet out. I still would not rule out thrush, it is not always smelly or visible. Are the frogs and/ or heels extra tender? I do hope whatever it is gets sorted soon!
 
They are getting hay in the field. There are 6 horses out during the day in a small paddock and just mine and another at night, It fetlock deep in water at the minute so I would be surprised if there was any grass anywhere to be seen!

I will take you advice and get the vet out though.

Another question then seeing as the vet is already coming out, on a flu vaccination course, how soon can the third jab be done? She had first on 10/11/11, second on 15/12/11 so is it too soon for the third?

Thanks everyone
 
If it is one abscess then she would be lame in one foot, and it would probably have developed to hopping lame. You can "test" by tapping with a small hammer round the wall on the sole, obviously if you have hoof testers this would be best, I think your farrier should be more interested, putting shoes on is only going to help if the feet are tender because they are saturated, otherwise they will interfere with an abscess, but if it is ultra muddy they might pull off anyway.
I am not sure what vet is going to ask you to do if you are stuck with respect to grazing and stabling, or lack of. Is there a tiny paddock you can keep her in for a few days which can be bedded and hayed.
I always feed Fast Fibre to my boy to make sure he has vitamins and minerals, if suspect laminitis, I would send for Laminator, which is half price from Equimins.
http://www.equimins-online.com/1-products
I think the third jab is at six months, so should be perfect timing.
 
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If you are absolutely sure there is no new grass under her feet that she could be trimming off as soon as it appears...

How does she move on soft surfaces (like rubber matting or a school surface or "normal" grass rather than the waterlogged stuff that seems to be everywhere at the moment)?

I'm just wondering whether you can be absolutely sure she's footsore rather than it being that she has muscle stiffness?

Right, absolutely NOT suggesting this at all, but bear with me for a moment:
You know that awful condition called atypical myopathy (which is a very acute condition so horses appear very distressed and seriously incapacitated, and die within a couple of days, so clearly absolutely NOT how you are desribing your pony at the moment)... it occurs most frequently during inclement weather in spring and autumn and seems to be particularly associated with heavy prolonged rain..

..... Well, I often notice that my gang are more unsettled (sometimes rolling frantically or head throwing and on edge) when it's been wet for a long time, and I just wonder whether this kind of weather can just bring on a very very very mild version of some kind of myopathy (muscle problem) that causes them to be reluctant to move and makes them hypersensitive to things.

I have no scientific proof of that. It's just a bit of a hunch of mine. But whatever's going on with your pony, personally I would be looking to find some hardstanding and/or stable for her, and/or to make sure she wears a very waterproof rug to keep the worst of the rain off her. It may be nothing directly related to the wet, but you never know, and it's easy enough to ensure she's got a good rug on (if she hasn't already).

Hope you resolve what it is.

Sarah
 
***UPDATE***

Thank you to everyone who replied.

I had the vet out yesterday and she had a good look at my pony and got the hoof yesterday out. She found thrush in a couple of her feet and both backs had split frogs caused by the wet. She found no heat in any feet and she was happy with the hoof testers on all feet (just sore on the frogs) She was happy it was just thrush until I walked her up. She is very stiff and unhappy on the turns. She got the testers out again and had a good squeeze and banged her feet around. She then felt her legs again and said she could feel a slight pulse in one front but she wasn't sure. To be on the safe side we are treating as laminitis. She is on strict box rest for 1 week with 3 sachets of bute yesterday and then 1.5 a day for the rest of the week. She also has treatment for the thrush. The vet said all being well next week, to Continue with what we were doing before.

What are peoples opinions on this? I obviously will do what is best for my pony but your thoughts or experiences would be great.

Thanks
 
emmahaywood1 said:
There isnt a blade of grass in the field, and hasnt been for a good 3 or 4 weeks. :o/
Click to expand...

Unless you are saying there is no green whatsoever on the field, then there isn't a blade of grass because she is eating it as soon as it grows. If anyone near you is mowing their lawn, that's how much grass she is eating. Grass that short is very stressed and very sugary. All 4 feet sore - my money is firmly on early laminitis. You are doing all the right things.
 
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**further update**

24 hours of box rest and a sachet of bute and she is like a different pony.

So much more movement in her legs. When I picked up her feet she almost kicked her underside she lifted them so high and freely!

So please with her progress, hopefully I can reduce the bute over the week and see if she is sound after the weekend.

Thanks to everyone who commented.
 
I was advised by a vet, is a horse looks "stiff" first thing to rule out laminitis......

I would say get a vet, digital pulses and heat are not garanteed symptoms either in laminitis
 
emmahaywood1 said:
**further update**

24 hours of box rest and a sachet of bute and she is like a different pony.

So much more movement in her legs. When I picked up her feet she almost kicked her underside she lifted them so high and freely!

So please with her progress, hopefully I can reduce the bute over the week and see if she is sound after the weekend.

Thanks to everyone who commented.
Click to expand...

Good Luck, sounds like you will have to be very careful with your future managment! Glad you managed to find a stable for her too:)
 
Hi, if she is now prone to lami, I have found magnesium works really well (Mayb once she comes off Bute). Also Milton is really good for thrush. (1 Part Milton to 10 parts water, soak weekly or spray/brush on every 2-3 days.) Hardens the frog and sole. If u have deep central Silvia infections (deep hole at back of frog), u will need to clean tge hole out and pack it to help it heal. Red horse products fo something called hoof stuff which is fab, really pack it in tho, push with hoof pick, or it falls out. Or keretex do hoof putty.

Glad she is on the mend. X
 
Best to take advice of vet and treat as mild laminitis that you have caught early - this happened to my lad recently. His field was totally bare and I went away on hols for a week. Whilst I was away, the rain came and it chucked down for days on end. When I came home the field was still bare but more green looking than it was and my lad, although not lame, was 'not right' in one hind hoof.
It was very subtle and the only way I knew for sure there was a problem was I tapped the sole of his hooves with a hoof pick and this hind was sensitive.
I treated for laminitis and was lucky that I caught it so early, I gave him some bute for 3 days and left him in day and night on soaked hay. He was able to go back out on a small area of bare paddock after a week and I gradually got him back out onto his normal bare paddock within 3 weeks. He is fine and back hacking out now.
My lad has had laminitis once before so I knew what to do in terms of treatment, but you have done the right thing to get their advice on this occasion.
 
Further update!

So after 5 days box rest my pony is going crazy and looking loads better. I decided to give her an hours turn out in a bare paddock. After 10 minutes of galloping around, bucking, rolling bronking etc she decided she wanted to be in the grass field. She jumped two 5ft gates and continued to belt around the grass field. She was caught and brought in before she could eat much.

So how do I keep her in the bare filed now! Shes only 14.2 but pops these gates like a log!

Horses eh, who'd have em! x
 
emmahaywood1 said:
Further update!

So after 5 days box rest my pony is going crazy and looking loads better. I decided to give her an hours turn out in a bare paddock. After 10 minutes of galloping around, bucking, rolling bronking etc she decided she wanted to be in the grass field. She jumped two 5ft gates and continued to belt around the grass field. She was caught and brought in before she could eat much.

So how do I keep her in the bare filed now! Shes only 14.2 but pops these gates like a log!

Horses eh, who'd have em! x
Click to expand...
Sounds as though you should be taking her to some shows, HOYS potential!
 
emmahaywood1 said:
I need some advice please. I bought my pony 2 months ago. She is a 9 year old Appaloosa x New Forest. She is barefoot and has been a broodmare all of her life. She is barefoot and has been perfectly sound until last week. We have had constant rain for around 5 weeks now. My mare lives out and the fields are so flooded and muddy.

She came in last week very sore on all hooves. On looking at her she had heat in one front hoof, no digital pulses or signs of abscess etc. I called my farrier who suggested a deep abscess as I couldnt see anything. The next day the heat was gone but she was still ouchy so the farrier suggested a set of shoes. (I am against shoes). Shes been coming in for a couple of hours a day and I started using Keratex hoof hardener. She has improved a little but is still unhappy on stony ground and looks stiff on regular ground. She is still fetlock deep in water and mud with no access to a stable or hard ground.

Is this just sensitivity caused by her saturated hooves, or should I be getting the vet out? There is no heat or pulses in any foot, she is bright an happy with no history of laminitis. She in out 24/7 and there is no grass what so ever. She is fed hay in the field and a scoop of fibre cubes and lo cal balancer.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Any advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi. Sounds to me your mare may have lamanitus, sounds silly i know after reading your post. How ever New forest ponies tend to be very good doers. And in spring it is farely normal to have problems. Maybe try restricting her diet a little. But i would like to all so suggest before that, that you buy a set of tender foot boots. They are a little expensive, but are very good. There basically gloves for horses so if she does just have tender foot they work wonderfully, but you can all so use them if it is lamanitus to make her feel more comfortable.
 
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