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  Discussion on Sore following therapeutic shoeing
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Member:
cathyb1

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2010 - 12:00 am:

Hi there,
I have a very big warmblood with very sloped pasterns and small feet, who I bought 10 months ago. Over the last 6 months, (with a new farrier), his front toes have got longer and longer and his front heels have become underrun. He is shod every 6 weeks, except for a stint away at the trainers, where it appears he went for perhaps 9 weeks without shoeing (!). He has not been in work for the last 5 weeks. I brought him up yesterday to start working him again, and on the lunge, found him to be lame in one front leg, which seems to have a swelling on the outside that looks suspiciously like sidebone... The farrier came out today, and we trimmed the foot to get a better alignment and balance, and shod him with an eggbar shoe, that extends as far as the bulbs of his heels. He is now standing up much better, and the angle is improved. However, we had to remove a fair bit of toe and the sole is quite thin . He was very sore, and we shod him with a pad, but is still very sore in the front of his feet. Is this usual? I gave him some bute,(both for the pain and the possible sidebone) and he is in a stable with plenty of straw until his feet are more comfortable. How long should I expect him to be sore until I get worried?
Member:
juliem

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2010 - 12:48 am:

Pictures are going to be necessary to make any judgements, but was he more sore after the shoes?? Red flag if so. The farrier may have too much pressure on the sole at the toe if the pad is pressing on it, but that's just a guess. With farrier care every six weeks, his toes should not have become long and his heels underrun if the farrier trimmed him properly before applying shoes. Does he have to wear shoes? This can be corrected faster if he can be barefoot--also probably resulting in a healthier foot.
Member:
cathyb1

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2010 - 1:28 am:

Unfortunately, the farrier is not particularly good. I have felt, since first getting this farrier, that he shod the horses too small and too close around the heel, allowing no room for expansion, and tended to remove too much heel and leave too much toe. I used to shoe my own horses, and have had dressage horses for decades, so I know a bit about shoeing. However, I am getting a bit old for it now, and although I had another farrier who was very good, he would not come out as often as I needed him to. We live in the country, and it is hard to get a good farrier when you want them! However, I decided today to be a bit of a bully, and got the horse trimmed more appropriately and shod better. I hated being so bossy, as it doesn't come naturally to me, but he is putting my good horses at risk.
Re: barefoot - not an option at the moment, for a couple of reasons. The ground here is extremely hard, drying and abrasive, and their feet are all very dry,(despite using dressings). Anything with bare feet just ends up with sore, broken feet. Secondly, this horse's conformation, coupled with the bad shoeing, means that he needs some sort of support and help to expand the foot towards the heels.
He was lame on the lunge in trot, but it was not consistent - more of an inability to get his front feet out of the way of his back feet, and
so wanting to canter and not being able to maintain a steady trot. It panicked him a bit that he kept striking himself (he is a short backed horse with long legs; very good moving behind). He didn't hurt himself on the lunge, though; he was well booted up.
My initial thought was that he looked generally sore in the toes of both feet, and it was only after he settled down a bit that I thought it was more on the left than the right (the left has the suspcious lump).
I am sure the horse is sore toward the toe, as a result of fairly dramatic trimming. The pad is a couple of layers of soft leather, so isn't pressing on the sole; it's role is more to protect the thin sole when he is back out in the paddock.
I plan to trim and refit the feet in 3 weeks, all going well.
It certainly shows that you shouldn't assume that an "expert" knows more than you; sometimes you should follow your own gut instinct. As women, it is easy to let a man have his own way, as our self confidence can be a bit low sometimes. By this age, you would have thought I'd got over all that; but I still find myself thinking, "oh, well, perhaps I'm wrong..." and letting someone wreck my horse's feet...
Having said all that, the previous farrier, who could be very good on his day, still had to have someone there to make sure he did a good job...
Member:
scooter

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2010 - 6:44 am:

Been there doing that Cathy. Unfortunately usually doing a "dramatic trim" will make them very sore, for the reasons you state, thinning the sole, changing the angles. If you read the article connected to your post it can't be done over night. I'm on year 2! of trying.

If he is sore for more than a few days I would begin to be worried. I agree with Julie that maybe pulling his shoes for now anyway(if he remains sore), and leaving him in a deep bed until he is no longer sore then consider reshoeing.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010 - 7:16 am:

Hello Cathy,
Horses trimmed a bit too close usually recover anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks later depending on the severity. It is important to protect the feet to prevent bruising at this stage and prolonging the lameness, for more check out Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Problems Following Shoeing or Trimming.
DrO
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