barefoot and foot sore

[kathyrush]

Hi - have had our horse barefoot since November with no problems - but he has just been trimmed today and he seems foot sore? Is this normal? I know the ground is hard now but we havent had any problems till today ..... If this is the case, how long does foot soreness last after a trim? Any advice please?

[coss]

your horse shouldn't be footsore after a trim. it could be that the ground is hard (like you say) and that the excess hoof kept the sole off the ground a bit. or, is it a new farrier you have? its normally caused IMO by a farrier trimming the hooves too short.
it depends how fast your horse's hooves grow. if they grow quickly he may not be footsore for long.

[doris]

As said, your horse shouldn't be footsore after a trim, but given that the ground in most areas has gone from soft to rock hard, and the hooves might have been used to wet ground which could have softened them - this combination might have cause the problem. Also, it only takes a mere tiny bit more off in the trim than usual, (along with the hard ground conditions)then your horse could have trodden on a stone and got bruised. This is painful, and can even give a raised digital pulse in some cases. Since November, we have had lots of wet weather, which is why you haven't had any problems until now.
I'd give a week off work and try not to walk your horse over any hard/stony ground. There sould be some improvement after this time, if not, re-assess the situation.
I'm sure your horse will be fine.

[kathyrush]

thank you - I am sure it it is the trim as he was fine yesterday. Thing is the fileds are so hard too at the moment. I will rest him and just let him potter around in the field and keep my fingers crossed. any more advice would be appreciated.

[Yann]

If the horse is sore after a trim then too much foot has been removed, commonly sole. You could try Keratex hoof hardener to make them more comfortable, other than that it's just a case of letting them recover.

Who is trimming? Did they warn you this might be the case and give you a reason?

[kathyrush]

Thank you - No I wasnt told...it was an Equine Podiarist...I rested him in the field today but he was so sore coming in I will have to box rest him for a few day to see if that helps..... Has anyone else had this problem.... He was supposed to go for training next weekend but that looks out now!!

[Yann]

I would be inclined to contact them and see what they say about it. I've had footiness after trims when the EP I was using at the time was trying to deal with Rio's long toes, the trim took sole there.

[MelanieD]

They shouldn't be footsore after a trim from an EP. I'd contact the EP and ask them for advice. The other thing that would be worth checking is digital pulses in case there's any laminitis type problems going on since it's a bad time of year for that, could just be a coincidence that it started the same day as the trim. Hard ground shouldn't be the problem if he was sound on the same ground right before the trim.

The worst I've seen after an EP trimming was very slight footyness over stones after the frogs had been trimmed, and that was in a horse that relied too much on big calloused frogs so not exactly normal and it only lasted a day or so. Major soreness is definitley not normal, they should be at least as comfortable after a trim as they were before and sometimes even more comfortable after a trim.

[kathyrush]

I have spoken to the trimmer and was told

""that he looked sound when she left and that if you want to speed up hoof growth put pads taped onto his feet with duct-tape may help (there are pictorial directions for cutting and taping pads). You can tape them on for up to 72 hours at a time, do a Milton treatment, let the foot dry and then reapply the pads. Some people also get fast growth using Top Spec feed balancer """-

we are still box resting him and the bute is helping - I am going to take some pic as well... any opinions on the above? Thanks

[Yann]

What they've said is sort of correct but none of it is going to help you immediately unless you already have some pads. Did they not offer to come back out and have a look? Sounds a bit disappointing to be honest.

I take it you don't have any hoof boots you could turn out in?

[Bebe]

I'd be really cheesed off with the first bit of the reply - just because the horse looked sound when she left doesn't mean it actually was, or that it is now :eek:

The reply you've had is the standard response to any problems, and whilst it can help and provide relief it doesn't really tell you what is wrong and I'd want to know. I'd at least expect the EP to suggest that they come back out and take a look.

And if you can get the pads to stay on with tape for 72 hours you deserve an award. I had a job getting them to stay put for 20 mins, it's much easier to put them in boots (but you can't boot for that long in one go anyway). Also, taping pads on for 72 hours straight is only usually recommended for laminitis, it shouldn't be necessary for an otherwise sound horse.

Warning bells would be ringing for me I'm afraid.

[MelanieD]

Your EP needs a kick up the ars IMO, that's not very helpful. If I emailed my EP telling him my horse was so sore she needed bute and box rest I'm pretty sure he'd be there asap to see what was wrong. If it was the trim that's caused the soreness then your EP should be a bit more interested in figuring out what they did wrong and how to avoid doing it again.

OTOH if the horse really was totally sound when the EP left it would be worth ruling out laminitis if he's been turned out on grass since the trim.

[kathyrush]

When I get the pics sorted you will see - it does look over trimmed although I am not an expert.. Just handgrazed him we are lucky we have a strip of grass right next to the stables.....and he is much more comfortable on the grass and then I let him have a wander on the soft surface in the round pen and although he just ambled around he looked quite comfortable - there is no heat or swelling anywhere....

[kathyrush]

The vet has confirmed that his right fore has been taken too flat...... and even if we wanted to shoe him to ease the pressure there is not enough hoof and we would have to wait a minimum of 4 weeks before that would even be possible.
When he has his next trim he can only then be balanced as he is currently uneven.
He has to have a further weeks box rest and in a few days we can see how he goes when we reduce the bute. Hopefully from Wednesday next week we can walk him out but we have to be careful due to the thinness of the sole in case he then develops an abscess..
Basically the hoof is so far down that the frog is now level with the sole and the vet said that the sole is touching the ground.

We are clearly very unhappy about this and have e mailed the trimmer and expressed our concerns.....sorry to ramble but this has made us very angry...

[martini55]

No wonder you are angry and I am a bit surprised at the response from your trimmer. IMO they should have offered to come out and assess what could be the problem. I hope your horse isn't too sore and his feet grow quickly!

[kathyrush]

Yes I know - but to be honest she cant put back what shouldnt have been taken off - thing is we only went barefoot cause we bought a norse at 3 who went down with navicular disease at 4 and the only option we had was the barefoot route... we then bought another horse last october and we put him barefoot too and now this has happened....... really upset...

[Yann]

That's terrible, what happened to 'do no harm'? What does the EP have to say about it? If you don't get a satisfactory answer from them it might be worth putting a complaint into the association, they will be very interested if someone is laming horses :(

[Bebe]

I'd also put a complaint in, not only has the trim caused harm but the EP doesn't exactly seem too interested in coming out to try and rectify things (I know they can't at the moment but a visit would go a long way towards customer care!).

I'd be interested to know who it is if you don't mind PMing me.

[Bobbin]

Just out of interest where are you based?

Pm me if you don't wish to say on open forum.