Reassurance needed - 11wks b/foot sudden odd gait behind

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BethH

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Hi

I posted a while back about whether to take shoes off my kissing spines horse and decided 11 weeks ago to go ahead after being very unhappy with his last few shoeings. He had all shoes off at once but the fronts had wraps on for 8wks and he has been amazing, barely even footy at all even over pebbles and from day one has been working (starting slowly!) 5 days a week, absolutely no problems in the school, hard & soft fields or concrete/tarmac so absolutely thrilled as he has looked so much happier and just can't believe how well he has coped.

However, 3wks after his last trim, on Tuesday he was given a very quick tidy up by the podiatrist to allow him to slot in with other horses on his rota at the yard in 5 wks time and since then, for the first time he has been quite sore, normally he is even better after the trim and very comfortable. His feet are now at the stage where the nail holes from the shoe have hit the the floor so they have chipped a bit but that hasn't affected his soundness. He has been a little more careful over the pebbles for the last couple of weeks (which I assume is grass) but not terribly worried about walking over them.

For the first time the trimmer tidied up his frogs along the edges and pared a little of the heel bulbs and he has suddenly felt quite short on the back end very short stepping. I tried not to feel worried for a couple of days but now it has been 5days I am starting to worry a little more as this was one of the reasons I took his shoes off in the first place as they had been terribly balanced and whilst his stride hadn't massively improved he did feel a lot more comfortable about putting his weight to the floor. We went for a hack today and my friend watched him from behind and said that his legs are swinging (especially the left which was the one most messed up by the farrier) in a slight inwards circle and brushing, he loosened end up a bit and then was tired on the way home and started doing it again and I can tell he doesn't feel right. I just want to know if this is a case of wait for the foot to grow more or get the trimmer back (I don't want to make him more sore!) he isn't lame but is clearly uncomfortable and the incorrect back end action is odd for him.

Any ideas or reassurance gratefully received especially from any trimmers out there?????
 
I am concerned about your description that the trimmer pared the heel bulbs. That would be very unusual. Can you give us some photos?
 
Hi thanks for replies, he is definitely going to be having a couple of days off although he is better when in constant work as it stops him seizing up! CP Trayes thanks for response, firstly just to say I am hopeless at explaining what I mean properly and also cannot for the life of me work out how to upload photos on here.

What I think I mean is that for the first time the podiatrist (who has been very good so far and is highly recommended as a very competent podiatrist) pared his frogs along the collateral grooves and then pared and split the central cleft very close to the heel bulbs, it was looking a bit messy and all kind of like one mass and it does now look very tidy and more horse like but I have heard conflicting reports of leaving the frog alone and also that a horse should always be better after a trim never worse.

This has been the case for Ryan when he has been checked every 4 weeks, so given that he has never been at all sore since the shoes came off rather amazingly, I feel a bit surprised and worried that he is now looking uncomfortable. It is the first time the frogs have been touched so that seems the only difference, but maybe the foot growth means the problems caused by the farriery are now at floor level and intrfering with his balance so not sure of what to do going fwds as the brushing on the back is a change of action that is making me a bit anxious, yesterday it was coming and going but am worried about strain on his joints and pelvis if I can't sort it quickly. Unfortunately I have been a bit tough on him workwise as I had to get all the muscle back he had lost at the start of the year to make sure his back was strong and to get his feet strong asap so that he can cope with his work regime. The KS always makes things a very fine line to tread!
 
It sounds like the tidying up of the frogs has made him sore. Tell the trimmer and then they will know that it was too much and wont repeat it. :)
 
Can you phone your trimmer and speak to them? They should be able to advise what they done and why plus offer some suggestions to get your horse more comfortable.

Do you have boots and pads that you could use for now so he can still be moving comfortably?

From your second description it sounds like the trimmer may have "tidied" the frogs to get rid of any flaps so that no bacteria can linger underneath. Any chance that your horse has a touch of thrush lurking?

Also it's been noted that when horses go barefoot, and therefore change the way that they move, their muscular development changes as they use themselves differently. I don't know what your current regime is but it may be worthwhile getting a Body Worker, physio or similar out and getting them to check your saddle fit while they are there.

Good luck with it.
 
It does sound like wrong trim at the wrong time.

As he has been more careful over stones recently, I'd wonder if maybe the grass is affecting him a little, and this trim has just tipped him over the edge a bit.
 
Hi - Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply, what you are suggesting sounds like I have been thinking, that the frog trim was a little too much for him. He hasn't ever had thrush and for the last couple of weeks, now I am getting a better understanding of his feet I have been spraying the feet every few days with Red Horse sole spray but maybe there was something lurking. I think the frog probably was trimmed for the reason you mention, but it was a little too much and has made him a bit uncomfortable along with the grass even though he is in betweem 8am-5pm and out overnight he is definitely fatter than a couple of weeks ago despite the work!

Maybe then the odd action is his way of not putting too much weight on the frog as he is more tentative in his stride so that would make sense. I think Ryan has done well so far because I told the trimmer I would rather do very little and ensure his comfort given his history, so was happy to take things slowly, but he had a lot of horses to do so maybe didn't think about it as much when he trimmed this time. Poor man he is excellent but I will be watching carefully at the next trim and remind him that Ryan was a mare in a previous life and can't cope with the slightest misjudgement!

Sounds like I need to give him time for the frogs to toughen again - back to light longreining in the sandschool then I guess! I am very over the top about his tack and he has far more back checks than he needs given the surgery he has been throug,h but it is 6wks since his chiro last visitied and he has put a lot of muscle back on so maybe he needs another checkover.

Many thanks - as always I really appreciate your time in replying.
 
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Hopefully a picture of my boy - his head not feet but he is a sweetie! oh hooray - I've finally managed to work out how to down load a photo! Thank you faracat could never have managed it without those instructions you posted!
 
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Me too - thank you for all of your help -when happy he rides beautifully but sadly is looking rather sorry for himself at the moment, I don't know whether to feel bad about the farrier or worse about taking the shoes off and allowing him such discomfort - lets hope time is a great healer and that his heels start to grow very quickly!!
 
If it makes you feel any better my lad went quite pottery at 6 weeks and then a bit later on when we extended his trim to 8 weeks, and I think another when we tried to bring his heels back a bit more (and he needed more of a trim as road work had been limited). Learnt from each event, found he is better without too big a change etc and don't really get any problems currently (shoes came off march 2012).

So don't worry, they are all different so you need to learn what works best for them.
 
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