Not lame but short? (box foot)

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sarahHugo

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Hi guys
I was wondering whether I could just have some more opinions are the situation with my gelding. I have put the whole sage on here, so sorry if it's a bit long!

I bought him 3 years ago unshod (previous owner didnt ride him) I started doing alot of hacking, so I put shoes on. We were fine for 2 years.

Two years later, he seemed quite stiff in his shoulder. I was having weekly lessons by then, so his work had increased. I had an equine massage person out, and she didnt think the problem was in his shoulder. The next day he went quite lame.

I called the vet and he wasnt happy with the state of his feet. He said the box hoof didnt appear to be balanced property and he had nail bind. He was on light excercise, and I was told to get another farrier's opinion (It turns out that the one I used to use has caused quite a few problems as he is newly qualified. The vet felt shoeing a box hoof was beyond his experience)

My old farrier said his feet werent balanced at all. He took his shoes off and put them on again. He tried to do the best job he could, but the previous farrier had only shod him 2 weeks before and there wasnt much hoof. He was put on bute and I was told to give him some time off.

Eight weeks later (was told to leave it longer) my old (good) farrier came out as he had ripped a shoe off the day before, taking half of his box hoof with it! he managed to get a shoe on, but he really didnt have much to work with.

Next time he was to be shod he was having none of it. Vet came out and still felt it was his feet causing problems (from being unbalanced etc) gave me some more bute and acp. However, he would not tolerate the nails at all. Fine for a trim - but went mad when nails were banged in. Decided it was getting dangerous (worried he would stamp on them) so I told my farrier to take them off and I would give him a break.

I noticed he had been gate hanging alot with his shoes on, but he was instantly happier with them off. I had my farrier out last week for a trim, and there were no objections, and his box hoof has improved alot.

So.. (sorry about the long bit)

He is in work with his boa boots and is happy, however he seems to 'glide' over his box hoof. I have asked several people their opinion and they do not think he is lame (including vet) but he just doesnt seem right.

Do you think this could be because he is putting weight on a smaller hoof and it's more uncomfortable (he is big ID X) or would you have any other concerns. He is galloping and bucking about - but I am worried that he may have just become tolerant of any pain.

My farrier has told me it can take a year for the hoof to grow back and he has had plenty of time off (me broken leg) he is a little stiff as he's 14 - but apart from that he's fine.

Do you think it's because he has a box hoof, and it's just his natural movement. I have always had an issue striking off on the correct leg in canter (left rein) and he is much much stiffer. I am wondering whether this may have been the cause of it. He was bought doped up from a horse sales, so I have no idea of his past etc.

Sorry this is so long

Would love your opinion

Many thanks
 
No not yet - was just told to wait and give him rest.

My sister used to use him and her tb was hopping lame (same person) my vet x rayed and he was fine. He was then shod by my good farrier and was sound straight away. This was the same time mine went 'lame' and the vet thought there was a trend going on.

I have since heard we arent the only ones.

I got a complaints form from farrier council and i was told i would need before/after pics( which i dont have) so it was a no goer.

I just have to warn people now.

I rang him up to confront him about this issues and he told me he put smaller hunting shoes on him?? (never been hunting in my life!??) so they would last longer!! We had a few words and he put the phone down.
 
This sounds very much like a problem I had with my IDX - I would really get xrays done as my horse showed some changes which had been undiagnosed for ages whilst faffing around with farriers.
 
Why don't you just keep him without shoes for the winter and see how he does? A lot of barefoot horses with odd feet will develope two matching or nearly matching feet once the shoes are off. He was obviously telling you that he was unhappy with being shod, so giving him a few months to see what feet he wants to grow for himself sounds like a good idea. You don't say where you are and you obviously need a good trimmer - if you don't trust any of your local farriers you might contact UKNHCP and see if they have anyone near you. They are the ones whose courses are approved by the FRC for farriers to attend.
 
agree with dovorian similar not lame but ever so short - had xray as vet initially said just give her few weeks off - turns out she has navicular - glad i insisted on xray, she idx.
not saying urs has anything as serious as navicular but worth an xray to see what going on
 
xrays won't actually tell you diddly squat. If you take a yard of 50 horses, loads of them will have apparent changes to the navicular bone on an xray and none of them will necessarily be lame. The thing that gives you a proper diagnosis is MRI which will show you the tendon or ligament damage that precedes damage to the navicular bone - either impar ligament or deep digital flexor tendon. That damage appears to be very curable with a proper program of barefoot rehabilitation. Though of course you'd have to think twice about ever shoeing again once a horse has shown that it has a problem with being shod.

Your big issue is probably to get your horse landing heel first. If he is landing toe first then he has pain in his heel region, which is classic for problems of this sort. If you can get him landing heel first with his frog in contact with the floor (particularly difficult in a boxy foot!), then he should begin to cure himself. This heel pain is very likely the reason for the "glide" on the boxy foot that you are seeing. (It can be difficult to spot a toe first landing without slow motion.)
 
I really think you need to take him to a veterinary hospital and have x ray and MRI done. I would be surprised if they didn't find some sort of soft tissue damage. the reason I say this is becasue of his reluctance to have nails banged in. this is a very common pain response to horses that have some form of tendon or ligament damage in their lower leg as the concussion of the banging in a nail is painful.
the shortness you describe might not be as bad as a true lameness but none the less it is still a lameness. Coming up short is becasue there is an issue some where that means your horse doesn't want to work appropriately.
i would seriously consider getting it checked out thoroughly as if you carry on as your going without a proper diagnosis long term you could do more damage.
I know how frustrating these type of problems are so good luck with it. and keep us all updated. hope you can sort the problem out for your boy.
 
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He is in work with his boa boots and is happy, however he seems to 'glide' over his box hoof. I have asked several people their opinion and they do not think he is lame (including vet) but he just doesnt seem right.


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I agree with most of what cptrayes said, but it sounds to me like he's not right shod, and clearly still not right barefoot. I think that only leaves three options.
1. Investigations, then expensive treatment which all has a fairly poor success rate.
2. Play around with remedial shoes and see if anything like pads or heart bars make him come right, even if its just for a few years.
3. PTS.
 
[quote
I rang him up to confront him about this issues and he told me he put smaller hunting shoes on him?? (never been hunting in my life!??)

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If I remember correctly, "hunting shoes" is just the proper name for U shaped horse shoes (as oppose to bar shoes). As for putting smaller ones on so they last longer
crazy.gif
that sounds mental.
grin.gif
 
Hi

Thank you very much for your suggestions.
I will ring my insurance and get some x rays done.

He is most certainly field sound, so if he has to be retired I wont need to PTS for a while yet. I have a youngster to keep him company.

Flame_ I dont have much of a clue about shoes! I just paid my money hoping he was doing a good job. I did notice that once he had been shod, his hoof used to overhang the shoe slightly! Stupid me!

Fingers crossed it is nothing too serious.
 
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