foot sore?

[herondell]

my fat17 year old pony i have noticed in the last couple of days is walking a bit slow and and trying not to put too much weight on his fron legs plus just standing around then after a while he eats some grass when chased out the way by my other one is finding it a bit hard to run, he hasnt had laminitis before just wondering if it cauld be that or i wormed him 3 days ago with equimax and he had his shoes of about 3 months ago,he has found it hard walking on stones and i did ask the last owner the other week if he gets foot sore if his shoes come off and he said yes he did a bit but then its been raining the last few days,anyone has had this with there ponies or cauld it be the start of laminitis ?(UPDATE ON ROMANY) he has been on box rest for a month now he is walking a lot better dropped a bit of weight so he looks a lot better the farrier came out this morning and checked his feet and said he dont think hes has had lamminitis he put his front shoes back on told me he can go back out he is in a paddock that my other 2 has eaten down and just to watch him he thinks he was just foot sore and him being in has given his hoofs a good rest i will still keep him on the laminaze with a hand full of safe and sound to mix it with unless anyone can recomend another feed for him to mix with it,my daughter will be happy she can ride know knowing her every night i better get my chores done before she comes home from school then.

[Ptaty70]

Hi. I had a footsore problem, so know where you are coming from. I was told that 3 months isn't a long time, plus the wet ground can bring on thrush and keep the soles of the feet wet so more sensitive... what are they like when you pick them out? soft? sensitive? a bit stinky?? That's all I can think of, apart from the L word. I shall leave it to the very knowledgeable barefooters!

[notpoodle]

mine is slightly footsy as well, particularly on gravel. not lame or anything, just a bit 'careful'. no hot hooves or pulse or any other lami signs though! farrier is overdue but coming this week though!

Julia
x

[Yann]

Your post is ringing a few alarm bells with me, the fact that he's fat, defending his front feet and he's just been wormed. The rain will have started another grass flush, and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence about wormers causing footiness or even outright laminitis.

I would look carefully for heat and pulses and restrict his grazing substantially, either by muzzleing or stabling during the day. I'd also cut out any mixes or mollassed chaff from his diet. If he improves as a result you've found your culprit. It may all be coincidental but it's worth making sure. Low grade or pre laminitic symptoms will show up much earlier if the horse doesn't have the support of shoes to mask them.

[MelanieD]

Sounds far too much like laminitis. If there's any chance of laminitis its best to get them off grass, if it isn't laminitis then some time off grass isn't going to do any harm. In most cases it'd be worth getting the vet as well if you suspect laminitis. Its rained so the ground is wet and its quite warm and sunny at times so the grass will be really growing and gives high risk of laminitis.

[herondell]

i have put him in a smaller paddock and i have already been thinking of putting the muzzle on also i have the farrier coming to put his shoes back on as he only has fronts,i will be asking the farrier what he thinks aswell as he was ok up to a couple of days ago.

[martini55]

Your post has alarm bells ringing for me too. Have you checked digital pulses? If you suspect that it is possibly laminitis you are far better being safe than sorry and taking them off the grass.

[herondell]

he is going in a friends stable across the road from me for a while to see how he goes have the farrier out then if it is the vet, i have been trying to slim him down for ages and the old owner he dont get any feed either not since the winter then it was a handfull he is one of these ponies that gets fat on thin air.

[herondell]

moving up as i updated this thread

[doris]

I would definitely get checked for laminitis if I were you. Once that has been ruled out, then you can possibly think otherwise.