Not quite right

Hackback

Hackback

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My 6 year old Arab is NQR. For background, he's barefoot, never had any issues before. Last year we hacked over all sorts of terrains and did a couple of quite challenging PRs, no boots, no issues.

So this year a couple of Thursdays ago he had his flu and tet boosters and his first strangvac. Bit of a stiff neck later that day but gave him some painkillers and he was fine by next day.

On Sunday we did a 17 km PR on fields, soft tracks and roads, no hint of any struggling but he does get his adrenaline up so probably wouldn't show anything minor anyway.

On Monday he was fine going out over the yard, seemed fine in the field and was fine coming in. On Tuesday he was fine going out but could barely walk coming in. I dosed him with Danilon, not sure if he was tying up or unsound, fully expecting to be calling the vet later or at least the next day, but it seemed to ease and by next day he seemed fine again.

Since then I've hacked out twice - once he was fine and the other time he wasn't as forward as normal. I've ridden him in the field several times (I dont have a school) and he's been absolutely fine.

EP came and couldn't find anything wrong with his feet other than a bit of inflammation around the white line which he said could have been caused by anything - asked if he'd had any vaccinations or wormers recently.

So when vet came a couple of days ago to do his second Strangvac I asked her about possible side effects and she said sore feet are not a side effect of any of the jabs he had. She couldn't find anything wrong on examination - no heat, no swelling, no pulses, no reaction to hoof testers - and saw nothing wrong with his walk/trot up - he's quite sound apparently. What she couldn't see is that normally he's a horse that has to be talked down from going at 100 mph and for the vet exam he was having to be encouraged to go forward.

So she agreed that as I knew him best there probably is something wrong and best guess is sore feet. Suggested I only ride in the field or arena hire for 2 weeks and see where we are. So decided to go ahead with the second Strangvac.

He doesn't seem comfortable on the yard again and this morning he's been standing on the pile of hay that I put out every day. Now obviously worried his feet are really sore. But he might just like that spot, which is up against the shelter and would be facing the morning sun if it wasn't so misty.

If I'm still worried I'll obviously have the vet again, or more likely take him to a big vet hospital where they get through everything in a day.

Just wondered if anyone had similar experience or advice? Older horse was shod until he retired so I'm quite new to barefoot. I'm not adverse to shoeing, but I don't want to mask any problems he may have.
 
I've known horses get low grade laminitis from vaccinations & wormers so I'd treat as if that is what you are seeing - pull off grass temporarily and see if you can cool feet.
 
Not exactly same experience but my barefoot pony had his flu vacc in January and we had several weeks of him being poorly; swollen neck, hobbling about, lethargic... vet came and gave him a shot of painkiller then we had at least five days of bute. Not had any trouble in the past with vaccinations so don't know why this was so bad. He got over it eventually but was still footsore.... I went back to having him shod on the front and he was 100% better overnight. I'd been thinking of getting him back in front shoes anyway (we'd done 8 months of totally barefoot so we'd given it a good try and used boots as well but he'd been footy through all the wet autumn and tbh our long hacks on rough ground were just not the same. He managed but he wasn't as forward going) And I wouldn't have him injected in the neck ever again; he looked like he was going to keel over or he had some sort of brain problem, frightened me to death! Since then he's had the jab in his rump with no problems.
 
BBP2 said:
I did a quick search and it looks like some horses can experience laminitis following vaccines. Any chance of that?
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SEL said:
I've known horses get low grade laminitis from vaccinations & wormers so I'd treat as if that is what you are seeing - pull off grass temporarily and see if you can cool feet.
Click to expand...
Thanks, my gut feel is that it could be the vaccination, especially as he seems worse again after the second. Funny that after the first one he was fine for 5 days and for two days after the PR though. The vet was insistent that lami isn't a side effect, she said many side effects are documented but that isn't one of them. Also, no sign of laminitis, feet are cold, no pulse etc.

I might be barking up the wrong tree completely in assuming it's his feet, it's only because he's been fine on the field but not on the hard surfaces that I'm leaping to that conclusion.
 
toooldtofalloff said:
Not exactly same experience but my barefoot pony had his flu vacc in January and we had several weeks of him being poorly; swollen neck, hobbling about, lethargic... vet came and gave him a shot of painkiller then we had at least five days of bute. Not had any trouble in the past with vaccinations so don't know why this was so bad. He got over it eventually but was still footsore.... I went back to having him shod on the front and he was 100% better overnight. I'd been thinking of getting him back in front shoes anyway (we'd done 8 months of totally barefoot so we'd given it a good try and used boots as well but he'd been footy through all the wet autumn and tbh our long hacks on rough ground were just not the same. He managed but he wasn't as forward going) And I wouldn't have him injected in the neck ever again; he looked like he was going to keel over or he had some sort of brain problem, frightened me to death! Since then he's had the jab in his rump with no problems.
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That's really interesting and does sound like a more extreme version of what I'm experiencing. My horse didnt get any swelling at the injection sites but did have stiffness. The vet said horses tend to have a more severe reaction to the second Strangvac so she told me to give a bute straight away and then another one that night and morning the next day (yesterday). So I suppose he may still be reacting and the bute has worn off. Maybe not his feet getting worse again, maybe hes just stiff and sore from the vaccine.
 
Hackback said:
That's really interesting and does sound like a more extreme version of what I'm experiencing. My horse didnt get any swelling at the injection sites but did have stiffness. The vet said horses tend to have a more severe reaction to the second Strangvac so she told me to give a bute straight away and then another one that night and morning the next day (yesterday). So I suppose he may still be reacting and the bute has worn off. Maybe not his feet getting worse again, maybe hes just stiff and sore from the vaccine.
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Goose had a big lump for ages, had to ice pack it every day. He was so miserable, its worrying when they're ill. He's fighting fit now and back to tanking off on the mountain 🫣
 
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