More probs with Arnie - feet now :-(

[augermoon]

Had the farrier out to do Arnie today and have noticed recently that his feet are looking really naff and cracked. Farrier took his shoes off to replace them and noticed a load of bruising on his near fore, despite him being sound. He initially thought it was laminitis which horrified me and then my RI (I wasnt there unfortunately) advised him that Arnie spends a fair bit of his time pacing up and down the field when his fieldmate is brought in during the day 9she refuses to leave him out all day). Farrier then concluded that in fact the bruisng must be due to him hammering his feet on the hard floor as he paces, resulting in the bruising and cracking. So, better than laminitis I guess, but means he has to come in during the daytime from now til the end of Summer to make him stand still and give his feet a break. Farrier said its nothing too serious and its common in big warmbloods with black feet but that we don't want it getting any worse and so need to nip it in the bud now. So from tomorrow, he'll be standing in all day long. I just feel a bit miserable about it as I'd much rather he was outside. After just one day in, his cough has returned and I'm waiting for the nasal discharge to reappear.

Can't really explain it but just feel a bit down about the whole thing. No real reason to, as it isn't serious and couldn't really have been helped but its just got to me. Never mind. :( :(

[rache]

oh no rachel!!!

Poor arnie not being out 24/7!! Is there no other horse at all that stays out during the day? Aww its not as bad as lamanetic but still poor arnie!!

Give him big kis from aunti rache!

[augermoon]

Well that crossed my mind too and I asked the farrier about it but he says he really does need to be in for a couple of months at least and then maybe we can have a re-think. He will be out from about 5pm til 7am every day but I'd just rather it were all the time. From a personal point of view, its so much easier to have him out. But I've gotta do whats best for him. Think I'm just tired after a v hard week and its blowing things out of proportion.

[Bay Mare]

Playing Devil's Advocate here ... couldn't the cracking be as a result of poorly balanced feet? It may the be the trimming that's to blame rather than the hard ground.

Saff had a crack right up the front of her hoof, she was shod on the front and, with the warm weather, was on fairly hard ground:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Nearfront12June2005front.jpg

The crack didn't look as bad with a shoe on but looked more dramatic when the shoe came off.

Once I'd made the decision to go barefoot (and learned more about feet) my trainer looked at her feet and pointed out that she had been trimmed (and shod) so that her foot was out of balance which is going to cause cracks no matter what you did.

I don't have any up to date pictures but since she has been barefoot and trimmed so that her foot is better balanced the crack looks much better than it did. She is also moving much better and has a better action.

I'm not saying that you should go barefoot but I would advise you to check the balance of the foot as it's altogether possible that this is the problem and not the turnout.

[augermoon]

Bay mare,

thanks for the reply. Was something I hadn't thought of. I think he's right about it being the hard ground but will definitely bring up the issue of balancing the next time I see him and see what he says - he is a superb farrier and is happy to talk through everything with me.

thanks again.

[eeyore]

it's really annoying when that sort of thing happens :mad:
there must be someone else to stay out with him!

there are lots of hoof supplements out there to moisturise them and things to help prevent cracking, crumbling, etc.

we are going barefoot soon (well we're already half way there!)
ben was only shod up front, but this morning he pulled a shoe off and was perfectly sound in the school! he's a little tender on harder ground but i thought he would be SO much worse.
so whenever the trimmer is coming next, he shall be trimmed! :D hopefully he'll pull the other shoe off then he'll be a bit more even lol