worried - horse has pulled a shoe and is very lame

L

LeneHorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 April 2007
Messages
4,807
Visit site
I brought my horse in yesterday - she had pulled a front shoe and is pretty lame. Now she has poor feet with very thin soles so is always sore when she loses a shoe but this is worse than usual. The farrier is coming out tomorrow - he said on the phone she may have trodden on a nail, but I had a good look at the foot and couldn't see any sign of a puncture. She has torn away some of the hoof wall, but I've seen worse. There is no heat or swelling in the leg itself and no digital pulse. We hot tubbed her and put a nappy/duck tape on to protect the foot until farrier comes. She is still lame this morning
I am worried that that she has done some internal damage in the hoof when she pulled the shoe. Has anyone experienced this?
My instinct is always to get the farrier first when its a foot problem, but he can't come until tomorrow. She is not showing signs of pain - eating normally and kicking stable door for attention (with her bad foot:( ). Do you think it ok to leave her until farrier comes tomorrow or would you get the vet?
 
Is she as sore with the poultice on or less?

Is there any visible blood or trauma to the internal structures?

Can you account for all the nails?
 
My boy did this the other day, looked very lame, gave him some danilon and popped a hoof boot on, was fine and farrier came out and put it back on, said to give a few days off as he would probably be a little sore!
Unless your horse can,t put his foot down I would pad up well and let the farrier come out.
 
Oberon said:
Is she as sore with the poultice on or less?

Is there any visible blood or trauma to the internal structures?

Can you account for all the nails?
Click to expand...

No different with the poultice.

No blood or obvious damage, other than a bit of the hoof wall ripped off.

The shoe and nails is somewhere in the field under the mud - there were no nails still in the hoof when I brought her in.

It just looks like any other time she's lost a shoe, only this time she's much lamer.
 
pines of rome said:
My boy did this the other day, looked very lame, gave him some danilon and popped a hoof boot on, was fine and farrier came out and put it back on, said to give a few days off as he would probably be a little sore!
Unless your horse can,t put his foot down I would pad up well and let the farrier come out.
Click to expand...

This has reassured me - thanks.

I'll let you know the outcome.
 
Of course he's sore - you try running down your road with no shoes on when you're used to having shoes on!

See pic below for nail placement - and how little margin for error there is, so when hes yanked it off the likelihood is hes bruised live tissue with the nails. And then you're going to get a farrier to come and bang more nails into an already sensitive foot in order to hide the fact its compromised....:(

nail+placement.jpg


http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/do-horse-shoes-hurt-horses.html
 
forestfantasy said:
In the future maybe you'll be better having the farrier more often to prevent him pulling shoes off?
How often does he pull a shoe?
Click to expand...

For your information the horse is shod every 6 weeks which is right for her. And she is a she not a he as stated in my OP. And horses pull shoes for all sorts of reasons - it is not a sign of bad farriery or bad management!
 
LeneHorse said:
And horses pull shoes for all sorts of reasons - it is not a sign of bad farriery or bad management!
Click to expand...

;) you are quite right!

i would just keep the foot clean and dry until your farrier arrives tomorrow. im sure she will be fine. ;)

would be a good idea to try and look for the shoe tomorrow before he arrives though, to have a look at it, and save yourself the cost of a new shoe! and of course to stop anyone standing on it in the future! :p
 
whisp&willow said:
;) you are quite right!

i would just keep the foot clean and dry until your farrier arrives tomorrow. im sure she will be fine. ;)

would be a good idea to try and look for the shoe tomorrow before he arrives though, to have a look at it, and save yourself the cost of a new shoe! and of course to stop anyone standing on it in the future! :p
Click to expand...

I'm afraid it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack - it is a huge field with several rather large muddy boggy areas (west of scotland is the mud capital of britain) - there are probably hundreds of lost shoes lying beneath the mud.

She is in her stable on a lovely big shavings bed so should be fine until farrier comes tomorrow. As someone suggested, the lameness is hopefully due to an abscess starting, rather than anything more sinister. (fingers x'd)
 
Don't waste time with the vet til the farrier has been. He might just be footsore or he may have a bruise, either way the farrier will advise.

Mine pulls shoes all the time! Even with bare hindfeet!!!! He did go quite lame once, turned out to be a bruise he had given himself while hooning around shoeless... I, like you, worried myself sick, called the vet first (instead of waiting for farrier) who said 'ohhh might be navicular, how old is he? Bring him in for x rays, nerve blocks etc... treat it as laminitis until then...' I was distraught, put poor boy on box rest, rang farrier in tears who said vet was talking poppycock!!!! He came out, had a poke about, said it was a bruise and told me to poultice it for a few days then he came back out and reshod and horse was fine. Farrier said I was a silly billy for getting the vet, cost me £70 for nothing and I have since learned my lesson!!!!
 
LeneHorse said:
I'm afraid it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack - it is a huge field with several rather large muddy boggy areas (west of scotland is the mud capital of britain) - there are probably hundreds of lost shoes lying beneath the mud.

She is in her stable on a lovely big shavings bed so should be fine until farrier comes tomorrow. As someone suggested, the lameness is hopefully due to an abscess starting, rather than anything more sinister. (fingers x'd)
Click to expand...

preaching to the converted im affraid... i live on skye, so i know ALL about mud... and i too have about a hundred shoes somewhere in my bog, i mean field! :p
 
Hi All, I know this is a very old thread but my horse has just done this too, he pulled his shoe off yesterday (a day after having them refitted and trimmed) he has to wear Bar shoes (we are working on correcting a few hoof faults- together with Farrier and Vet) he has pulled his shoes off before numerous times however I noticed he seemed a little bit sore last night after pulling it off, this morning he cannot put weight on it at all. My Farrier is coming but as I live out of the local area he cannot come until Monday so I have to wait a few days. He can manage being barefoot and does not go lame if he is barefoot (however he has some internal problems that require shoes) Ive poulticed the hoof with epsom salts and stabled him.
Im assuming he got a nail in the sole as he was pulling the shoe off.
I also spent hours looking for the offending shoe but no luck. its a paddock of about 20 acres with mud, sand and lots of very long grass…. no hope!
so Im wondering how long others have poulticed for in this situation, if at all, and how long it took before the horse was feeling better. Im thinking its a good idea that the farrier isn't coming for a couple of days as it will give him some time to feel better.
 
Last summer my TB pulled his shoes to the right. Farrier removed and said poultice as he was very sore. That afternoon he was very lame. I had the vet out as something didn't feel right. Vet took him to hospital immediately. The shoe had somehow pinged to the right and punctured his pedal bone. All nails were present and no hole to be seen. He was in hospital for 2 weeks. It was touch and go. So, if your worried I'd get the vet out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top