Suddenly difficult to shoe .. Want to understand why this would

[Spangles]

Why would a pony gradually become difficult to shoe ? He's only had front feet shod since about the beginning of the year. Doesn't object to shoes being removed but became very difficult today, verging on the dangerous whilst farrier tried to replace shoes .. rearing up etc.

He's only 7 & on full livery so I wasn't around to witness it. It's upset me as he's such a laid back chap otherwise. I hate to think he was that distressed and could potentially have injured himself and the farrier.

 

[Tnavas]

HAve you considered he might be borderline tender from laminitis? Sounds as if his feet may actually be tender.

 

[turnbuckle]

Or perhaps he was pricked last time? Can happen to the best farriers.

 

[Sukistokes2]

I would always expect pain in a case like this. Either pain in the foot or something like arthritis making it difficult for him to stand. Difficult one because he is telling you something is wrong but not what, so it is a case of working it out??????

 

[TigerTail]

Pain and or bad handling. Leave the fronts off see what they're covering up and have a trimmer or bf friendly farrier come when you're there to see what's going on

 

[Shay]

Ditto the others - pain. The thing that worries me - why didn't the farrier notice he was in pain? Or maybe he did but it hasn't been reported to you. Perhaps worth a word with the farrier direct? They have loads of experience with horses - or should do - and can accommodate pretty much any need, from changing the angle the leg is held to ease pain in the shoulder, changing shoes or design to deal with pain in the foot and anything in between. If he didn't notice the pain the change farriers!

 

[Patchworkpony]

HAve you considered he might be borderline tender from laminitis? Sounds as if his feet may actually be tender.

I would totally agree with this it happened with one of ours years ago which was why we got the vet out. It was lucky as we were able to deal with borderline laminitis and stop it getting worse. Your pony is obviously trying to tell you it is in pain.

 

[Goldenstar]

In my experience it's likely to pain somewhere not necessary the feet .

 

[stormox]

I had a horse that became difficult to shoe after several years of being good. - turned out she had got arthritis in the pedal/navicular bone area

 

[Red-1]

I had one who would not use the tripod. Every time his foot was placed on it he would rear up. He was otherwise sound, but we later found he had a huge, flat abscess under his sole.

 

[Wagtail]

Echo what others have said. Horses do not put this much energy into objecting without a very good reason. It could well be laminitis. Autumn is one of the peak times for laminitis. My TB with kissing spines was very bad to shoe, especially his fronts. My farrier worked out that it was when he had his leg between his knees and slightly twisted to the outside that the violent reactions would be triggered. I stopped having him shod and the farrier had to trim his fronts by holding them low down so they were never twisted to the side. He must have had pain in his back when his legs were held in the normal farrier way.

 

[smja]

Definitely speak to the farrier. Our old pony can get quite stiff in the hocks, and it's most noticeable when being shod (holding foot up for longer periods of time than usual). Our farrier gives him extra rest breaks and holds his foot slightly lower than normal - and tells us when he thinks it's better/worse, too!