Need some serious help with mares feet

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rockysmum

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Dont know where to start really. And before anyone has a go I am feeling guilty enough as it is.

Bought mare as an unhandled 3 year old, obviously barefoot, she stayed that way until after she was broken. Only had her shod as came under pressure from the girl on the yard who was hacking her out. I'm not into barefoot as such, my other two were shod, but she was such a cow to do I thought it was easier not to bother.

Had normal shoes on for a few years and didn't have any problems. Last year the farrier who was doing mine screwed up one of my other horses feet so I looked for someone else. Was recommended a farrier who does the remedial shoeing for our vet.

He said her heels were dropped and she needed support, so he shod her and the others the natural balance shoes. I thought they looked odd and didn't really like them, but what do I know. I have ended up taking the shoes off the oldie anyway and the little cob seems fine with them. I am however very worried about the big mare.

She is not lame as such just never looks comfortable on her feet if that makes sense. Plus they look dreadful, a month ago one of the other liveries actually said that her instructor had commented that she had never seen such dreadful feet as my two.

I got brave and asked the farrier to shoe with normal shoes. He spent a lot of time convincing me that the mares feet would be worse with normal shoes and he is actually improving them. I gave in :o:(

Tonight I got comments again, her heels look low and the angle is broken back which would be even more noticeable if her toes were not dumped so drastically.

The vet has seen all of this and doesn't have a problem with it.

I have got to do something but I dont know what. I am temped to remove her shoes and see what happens for the winter as she is not in much work. Her feet are OK in that they are not cracked or bits missing etc.

The other option is to change farrier and go back to normal shoes, but what if he is right and this will damage her.

Can someone help please, sorry its so long
 
Have a good look and if the aren't right change your farrier ASAP. Take it from me who's just had a 6yo written off due to internal damage due to me not pushing my old farrier enough... Not that you should have to tell your farrier how to shoe but if he's oing a poor job then take your business elsewhere.
 
First ones, more to follow


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How long shoes on? It's an 'interesting' fit. But to be of much help we need you to get down and dirty with some proper close up hoof shots. My blog has some good examples. I'd put the address up but someone might get antsy so I'll let someone else do it for me.
 
LucyPriory said:
How long shoes on? It's an 'interesting' fit. But to be of much help we need you to get down and dirty with some proper close up hoof shots. My blog has some good examples. I'd put the address up but someone might get antsy so I'll let someone else do it for me.
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4 Weeks since last shoeing. Best I could do with iphone and no help. Will try to find a better camera later.

I dont have the link so I cant post it :o
 
TigerTail said:
http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.co.uk

Here you go Lucy :)

One thing to note OP - unless the vet takes a specialist interest in equine feet they do very little coverage on it during training and would therefore tend not to look twice unless asked ;)
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Thank you, actually I did ask :confused: I find that really surprising considering how much lameness comes from feet. Just shows, you trust them thinking they are experts :rolleyes:

tallyho! said:
http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Here you are, this will help you get right photos and give you some idea of what to be looking for. At least you can have an educated conversation with your farrier.
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Thank you, the last one was about mustangs or something, I got a bit lost.

By the way, this is not a cob :D its a warmblood sort of thing. All this is new to me. Had ordinary shoes on my oldie cob for 31 years without a single problem, same with little cob who is now 23. Did have a problem with her but not about shoes, just the angle of trim on her back foot. She doesn't seem to mind this new type of shoe, her feet are OK.
 
By the way, just because some of the taliban have posted, it doesn't mean you shouldn't continue shoeing IF you are happy with it, I just think that it should be done well and if it isn't then you need to ask why or get someone who CAN do it well if you see what I mean :)

Below is a really good thread, one I found really useful. I don't have shod horses. I'm a committed hoof nerd and never would like to see a shoe nailed to hooves again, but, if ever the need arises, I would want a bloody good job doing for the money I will be paying :)

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=513676
 
tallyho! said:
By the way, just because some of the taliban have posted, it doesn't mean you shouldn't continue shoeing IF you are happy with it, I just think that it should be done well and if it isn't then you need to ask why or get someone who CAN do it well if you see what I mean :)

Below is a really good thread, one I found really useful. I don't have shod horses. I'm a committed hoof nerd and never would like to see a shoe nailed to hooves again, but, if ever the need arises, I would want a bloody good job doing for the money I will be paying :)

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=513676
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Thank you, I have read it, and the blog. I dont really have an issue with shod or barefoot, whatever suits the horse. My oldie was seriously short of brakes and was shod to stop him ripping his feet to pieces when he did his party tricks like overtaking learner drivers and galloping down the side of quarries. The little cob was shod as we did a lot of showing and my daughter thought it was correct. Would happily have left the warmblood barefoot but I needed someone to hack her out and the only person good enough insisted on shoes.
 
How about some pics of healthy hooves for you to compare?

A healthy frog and heel

healthyfrog-1.jpg


A healthy wall

wild_hoof18942859_std.jpg


How does your horse compare with these?
 
Oberon said:
How about some pics of healthy hooves for you to compare?

A healthy frog and heel

healthyfrog-1.jpg


A healthy wall

wild_hoof18942859_std.jpg


How does your horse compare with these?
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Not well, I know they are not right. The trouble is I dont know how to start putting it right. The farrier insists he is improving them and they will be much worse if he doesn't shoe like this.

I am honestly frightened of making things worse.

Is it possible to get the feet back into decent shape or is it her conformation which is causing the issue.
 
Does the horse Need to stay in work ?
By that I mean could you tell the farrier you where roughing off for a break and have a go with the BF and see how it goes ?
I not really qualified to comment on those shoes but the shoeing looks very different to my horse who has just gone into NB shoes after six months working BF.
It's really hard to get good advice in this sort of situation unless you have a vet with a specialist interest .
 
Goldenstar said:
Does the horse Need to stay in work ?
By that I mean could you tell the farrier you where roughing off for a break and have a go with the BF and see how it goes ?
I not really qualified to comment on those shoes but the shoeing looks very different to my horse who has just gone into NB shoes after six months working BF.
It's really hard to get good advice in this sort of situation unless you have a vet with a specialist interest .
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Thanks, no the horse does not work, it never has. At least what most people would consider work. My daughter rides her when she feels like it. Only in one of the schools or hacking around the estate which is all grass. She would never need to go on roads, tracks or stony ground. She was fine barefoot when she was younger and the going at the old yard was much harsher than our current one.

I had almost decided to try her barefoot before posting this.

The only doubt in my mind is if I made her worse, which seemed to be the threat from the farrier of doing anything differently.
 
The state of her hooves is NOT her or her conformation's fault ;).

Long term shoeing without a break often causes such unhealthy hooves with long, flared toes and weak, contracted heels and frogs.

If you give her half a chance and support her with diet, movement and thrush treatment - she will happily grow better hooves :).

Read the Rockley blog and see for yourself what can happen with horses that have been written off previously.

I'll send you a pm with some general pointers but do not despair - when there is still blood supply, there is hope.

Where in the country are you?
 
Oberon said:
The state of her hooves is NOT her or her conformation's fault ;).

Long term shoeing without a break often causes such unhealthy hooves with long, flared toes and weak, contracted heels and frogs.

If you give her half a chance and support her with diet, movement and thrush treatment - she will happily grow better hooves :).

Read the Rockley blog and see for yourself what can happen with horses that have been written off previously.

I'll send you a pm with some general pointers but do not despair - when there is still blood supply, there is hope.

Where in the country are you?
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Thank you, thats really good to know, the farrier is blaming her conformation.

She is currently out during the day and in at night, she gets a net of haylage (provided by yard so cant change that) and a handful of happyhoof (I think its called) with supplements in it. Supplements are glucosomine, biotin and chaste berry.

We are about 8 miles to the North West of Leeds, Wharfe Valley.
 
rockysmum I'm not sure I have anything more useful to add than others but just wanted to say Frank's shoes came off in March last year.. his feet have changed by themselves soo much! They are really quite clever ;). He is still doing a lot of rebalancing ... his growth lines show that but tbh his feet are pretty unrecognisable to what they were before. So just as an example

when first diagnosed lame
311360_10150950573530438_2033675234_n.jpg


after some remedial shoeing.. they looked better on the outside but still lame
422143_10151355005630438_2060952765_n.jpg


now
523865_10152167877050438_1082400011_n.jpg


He has been lightly trimmed by a UKNCHP trimmer.. who tbh has been as much good for her hand holding as her trimming :D but has remained in work (albeit lighter). We had to do some stone stomping at the weekend to remove ourselves from an oncoming herd of cows situation :rolleyes: and all was fine.
 
rockysmum said:
Thanks, no the horse does not work, it never has. At least what most people would consider work. My daughter rides her when she feels like it. Only in one of the schools or hacking around the estate which is all grass. She would never need to go on roads, tracks or stony ground. She was fine barefoot when she was younger and the going at the old yard was much harsher than our current one.

I had almost decided to try her barefoot before posting this.

The only doubt in my mind is if I made her worse, which seemed to be the threat from the farrier of doing anything differently.
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Honestly I would give her a break from shoes you can buy boots for the front feet so she can work when your daughter wants to ride her as its my ( admittedly limited) experiance that Bf works best when the horse is in consistent work .but boots will get round this.
The thing is who will trim her the farrier may be great in which case that's easy but if he's not into it and determined that it won't work it much more difficult .
They really can't cope with having their soles and frogs trimmed Bf I swopped to a trimmer but this not easy for every one.
She may well be footsore when you remove the shoes but if they can't live without shoes when not in work you have to face up to the fact there's something not right.
I recommend Nic Barkers book feet first which helped me a lot to get going and the BT on here without whom I would never had started.
 
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