Sore feet, no obvs cause

[Jambarissa]

My Arabi went really foot sore once my field started to dry up and his feet were so soft from the wet i think they were just sensitive, I kept him in with short periods of turnout for a while and then I used some hoof armour on the fronts, he was so much better the following day and has been fine since was back out as normal.

I do think this might be it. He's been out during the day all winter despite all the mud, we do have hills so plenty of option to not be stood in mud but that's not always their preference.

I have dug out my hoof armour. He's in today so should be dry to put it on tonight.

 

[Highmileagecob]

I have been trying to take pics, much harder than you'd think!

I will get someone to help me. Vet was clear that she could look for signs of thrush, abcesses and soft/sore patches but beyond that she wouldn't be commenting much on feet.

Vets have little time allotted to hoof care during their training, and tend to rely on a farrier's opinion. Farriers are taught to shoe horses, and correct faults and imbalances through remedial shoeing. As long as the horse comes sound, then the farrier has fulfilled his brief. The internet has opened the door for owners to learn as much as they want to about hooves and hoof conditions, but vets and farriers are still wary of being challenged by an owner. Keep on asking questions, you have your horse's best interest at heart, and you know it isn't right to be footsore after a trim. I'm sure we will keep suggesting solutions on this forum for you!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I have been trying to take pics, much harder than you'd think!

I will get someone to help me. Vet was clear that she could look for signs of thrush, abcesses and soft/sore patches but beyond that she wouldn't be commenting much on feet.

It's hard when you are always on your own I have great ideas but it's almost impossible when you have no help to take such pictures

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I do think this might be it. He's been out during the day all winter despite all the mud, we do have hills so plenty of option to not be stood in mud but that's not always their preference.

I have dug out my hoof armour. He's in today so should be dry to put it on tonight.

I tend to wash the feet with hot water and scrub if they are in overnight so they dry, if not I keep in then just wire brush them as much as possible before applying.

The preparation of the hoof is so important or its basically sticking to mud on the hoof.

 

[Jambarissa]

I did the hoof armour tonight. One hoof perfect. The other snatched away 3 times, all sorts of bits stuck to it and my top ruined. Guess at least I'll know it works if one hoof seems better.

He did actually seem better today. Maybe time off the grass during the day is helping. Or the drier ground.

Vet had nothing to say really. No signs of thrush or abscess, not lame on a trot up but uncomfortable on rough ground. No signs of lami other than the discomfort which could be a sign of lami. She knows his cpl history so didn't seem to want to recommend any action just call if it gets worse.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I did the hoof armour tonight. One hoof perfect. The other snatched away 3 times, all sorts of bits stuck to it and my top ruined. Guess at least I'll know it works if one hoof seems better.

He did actually seem better today. Maybe time off the grass during the day is helping. Or the drier ground.

Vet had nothing to say really. No signs of thrush or abscess, not lame on a trot up but uncomfortable on rough ground. No signs of lami other than the discomfort which could be a sign of lami. She knows his cpl history so didn't seem to want to recommend any action just call if it gets worse.

I wouldn't worry about the bits stuck just cover in talc afterwards.

I line my 2 up with clean pre cleaned feet takes me no time to do 4 front feet I don't even change the nozzle.

 

[Highmileagecob]

I did the hoof armour tonight. One hoof perfect. The other snatched away 3 times, all sorts of bits stuck to it and my top ruined. Guess at least I'll know it works if one hoof seems better.

He did actually seem better today. Maybe time off the grass during the day is helping. Or the drier ground.

Vet had nothing to say really. No signs of thrush or abscess, not lame on a trot up but uncomfortable on rough ground. No signs of lami other than the discomfort which could be a sign of lami. She knows his cpl history so didn't seem to want to recommend any action just call if it gets worse.

That could possibly be a clue, if he's snatching his hoof away from you, he's feeling uncomfortable somewhere. Keep an eye on that hoof, it may be a deep seated thrush that is under the heel, or an abscess brewing. This is exactly what my old boy does when he needs thrush treatment, even when there is nothing to see or smell. Days later a crack or hole will appear in the frog.

 

[lynz88]

If it's any consolation, mine has been getting steadily worse over the past week or so. Today I was told he was having issues even on the grass when he was coming in. He has never been a lami risk but we have been struggling a lot with thin soles. I think the on/off rain lately has sent us back. That said, I've requested to removed any haylage and have soaked hay just in case. It has never been an issue in the past but this year feels a bit different with the rain and sun and random warmth spells. Even the grass in my back garden is going more haywire than usual. I am also going to be doing multiple layers of hoof armour as he have issues with thin soles and have been battling this all winter.

 

[lynz88]

OP, have you been trying the hoof armour? I did 2 layers between Sun and Mon late eve and noticed a marginal difference on the hard tonight without boots. I can still feel where it is very thin and soft so will have to keep on top of the layers. He is not impressed about only hay...soaked hay at that (but maybe it will slow him down and he won't get through a night net in a matter of hours)

 

[dorsetladette]

My 4 year old has all of a sudden got thrush and soft frogs which has made him footy over stony ground. I started treating the thrush on Wednesday last week and have seen a noticeable improvement in the last couple of days.

I think it's been caused by all the horrid wet weather. Farrier has said alot of abscesses around at the moment which he puts down to weather and the soil locally being sandy.

 

[Jambarissa]

OP, have you been trying the hoof armour? I did 2 layers between Sun and Mon late eve and noticed a marginal difference on the hard tonight without boots. I can still feel where it is very thin and soft so will have to keep on top of the layers. He is not impressed about only hay...soaked hay at that (but maybe it will slow him down and he won't get through a night net in a matter of hours)

He is getting better but it's hard to decide what it is. Time off the grass, soaked hay, hoof armour, drier ground, time since trim

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

My farrier said his seeing lots of footy horses with strange hoof growth especially the soles all to do with the weather, my 2 have both had footy times over the last 2 months and now for some reason the hooves seem to be cracking so I'm rasping a few times a week at least.

I find if you leave the cracks to get bad that can make them footy as well so just trying to keep on top of it all.

 

[lynz88]

He is getting better but it's hard to decide what it is. Time off the grass, soaked hay, hoof armour, drier ground, time since trim

I'm glad he's doing better. That's the hard thing about this....you can never pin-point exactly what leads to success. I went down yesterday and mine walked out much better on the hard - still had to drag him a bit but nothing like he has been. But, we've had much drier consistent conditions and even the sprinkling of rain we got yesterday morning wasn't enough to make the track a bog (thank god!). I noticed suddenly that mine has much harder soles when I was down last night as well and he was a bit more perky. I've added some additional foot stuff but there's no way it could make such a dent in 4 days and not sure that switching to soaked hay could have made a dent either, especially as I've noticed he isn't chowing through it like he otherwise does. His feet have suddenly grown like weeds as well - it's only been 3.5 week and he needs feet done.