sensitive feet ?

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twinkle

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ok well my girl has front shoes on and no backs she is this way because when we had back on she would slip and slide so i took them off and she has always been fine the 7 years ive had her now nearly 10

well over the last two months she has had to be turned out on a dry lot (normally out on grass and in of a night) becasue we have had so so much rain and fields have got really really muddy and we have clay mud!

so she has been having no grass just hay that i soak for 15mins! for dinner she has chaff, vit e ,ironxcell as she had a slight virus so vet said to put her on this. high fibre pellets and joint supplement.

the last month she has gotten a bit sensitive to the stones on the floor with her back feet and has gotten slight worse this last couple of days im woundering if this has anything to do with not getting enough nutrients like she would say if she was on the grass like normal ? we have never had this before but she has never had to be on just hay before apart from once and i didnt notice her getting sore behind then but she was having an all round vit min supp at the time.

so should i add an all round vit min sup? or something else? her trim is GOOD
 
I doubt if a change in diet would make such a dramatic difference so soon, if at all. It's far more likely to be the result of sensitive soles being turned out on rock hard, dry ground. This dry spell (in Wales at least) is set to last all week so if you can't move your girl to different, softer turnout, could she either have her back shoes back on for a while or wear boots?
 
I think it more likely the mud/soft ground has caused them to be softer therefore more sensitive, and now she's on drier ground she is feeling the stones more .
Mine are the same atm and mine aren't on any hard ground ; they only have to walk about 30 steps on concrete to the stables and they are all a bit sensitive. ( never in 8 years have they been)
They should toughen up the longer she is out on drier ground.
Well I hope so as its back to the drawing board!
 
You say she has a virus - do you know exactly what? What are the symptoms? Has she had any drugs to rid her of the virus?

I also wonder whether the Ironxcell might be the culprit, or at least a factor. It contains Sorbitol. Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol and sugar is the main cause of sensitive feet. Also, in humans sorbitol has also been shown to cause abdominal problems. To relate back any problems in the horses' gut will cause acid levels in the gut to rise, causing thinning of the stomach lining, allowing more toxins to escape from the gut into the bloodstream, which in turn will cause feet to become more sensitive.

As she has had no problems in the last seven years you have to look at what has changed - i.e. having a virus and being given the Ironxcell. I would stop giving the Ironxcell and see if that makes a difference (don't expect her to improve overnight though). A vit/min supplement might be a good idea (I give mine seaweed), also magnesium which helps maintain strong feet and brewers yeast to help her digestive system recover from the virus.
 
As well as the wet ground, also look at the diet, it can be trial and error!
My ponies feet have been more sensitive since changing their diet in November last year to an all alfalfa/hgh fibre one which is a bit surprising.
They were getting Lucie Stalks and Alfalfa Pellets soaked with Kwikbeet, plus Total Eclipse.
I took my shetland off the alfalfa first a couple of weeks ago and have just been feeding him Fast Fibre, he has improved allready!
Started feeding the other two Fast Fibre two days ago so I'm waiting to see if they are sensitive so Alfalfa.
In the eight years I've had them none of them were footy on a diet consisting of a low cal/low sugar chaff ( Happy Hoof, Fibergy etc)and kwikbeet .
 
the virus was raised liver enzymes she had no symtoms just blood tested as friends horse had a bad virus and so did a few on the yard and i was just testing her to check she was all ok.
so vet said to use ironxcell and milk thistle so she is just finsishing the second ironxcell and has been doing really well since on it lots more energy and omph to her but i was thinking the same thing about the sugar in it so glad you said about it! i will take her off of it and put her on a normal vitmin supp and see if she improves if not will look into it more must admit that and the virus are the only two things thats changed.
 
The poor functioning liver will have been enough to give her sensitive feet. Concentrate on getting her liver healthy and her feet should put themselves right again. You would be wise to avoid liver challenges like chemical wormers until she is better.

How odd for your vet to diagnose a virus from raised liver enzymes. Was there a raised white blood cell count??
 
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