Foot sore?

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Smoke

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Sep 17, 2017
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Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forum.
I recently bought a 7 yr 14hh appendix (tbxqh) gelding.
Yesterday we went on a trail ride that involved about 15 mins of walking on gravel , hard ground.
He is a very fast walker on soft ground and quite energetic. I noticed he is tender and ouchy on gravel. He's barefoot.
Today I rode him a he was walking a lot slower than normal and seemed quite lazy, not usual for him.
Could he be foot sore from yesterday's ride? Should I be considering shoes for him?
 
Welcome to NR :D

Are his feet conditioned to work on the gravel/hard that he felt sore on yesterday? If not it could simply be that he needs some time to get used to that kind of surface so it doesn't leave him sore.

Alternatively sore feet could be indicative of other things happening, like grass or grain overloading his system, perhaps if you haven't had him long the change in diet since he arrived is too much for him.

I personally would want to rule out the above before putting shoes on as shoes can hide problems sometimes, which then get worse and without the pony showing soreness, you don't know until its really bad.
 
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Jessey said:
Welcome to NR :D

Are his feet conditioned to work on the gravel/hard that he felt sore on yesterday? If not it could simply be that he needs some time to get used to that kind of surface so it doesn't leave him sore.

Alternatively sore feet could be indicative of other things happening, like grass or grain overloading his system, perhaps if you haven't had him long the change in diet since he arrived is too much for him.

I personally would want to rule out the above before putting shoes on as shoes can hide problems sometimes, which then get worse and without the pony showing soreness, you don't know until its really bad.
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Thanks. He's in a small paddock/pen where there was a fair amount of grass but now it's gone down to the point hay will soon be necessary. Small amount of sweet feed grain as a treat after riding and that's about it other than munching the green grass while riding. Previous home similar sort of diet. I've had him a few weeks. Will probably avoid shoes until next spring anyhow as winter is approaching then will only be riding once or twice a week at most. Hopefully after a few days or so not riding he's back to his forward moving self.
 
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Should check though.... How much grain is ok as a treat? I'd say the amount I give is about... 4 or 5 cups of the sweet feed which I believe is a mixture of grains coated in molasses. Previous home gave rolled oats as a treat
 
Smoke said:
Should check though.... How much grain is ok as a treat? I'd say the amount I give is about... 4 or 5 cups of the sweet feed which I believe is a mixture of grains coated in molasses. Previous home gave rolled oats as a treat
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Personally I won't feed sweet feeds, even as a treat, theres so many healthier options out there and horses just don't naturally have access to that ammount of refined sugar and carbohydrates so it can be quite an insult on their systems
 
Jessey said:
Personally I won't feed sweet feeds, even as a treat, theres so many healthier options out there and horses just don't naturally have access to that ammount of refined sugar and carbohydrates so it can be quite an insult on their systems
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Ideas for healthier options? He doesn't want carrots or apples :rolleyes:
 
If he likes the rolled oats they'd be better, oats aren't as bad as people think, and a cupful not four or five.
 
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Yep a handful of oats, at least they dont have all the mollasses on. The reason most horses turn their noses up at carrots and apples is they've never had them to know they are good, It can take a while to learn to enjoy them. Other good options are natural, low sugar horse cookies or using hay replacer pellets as a treat, anything that is similar to what you find in their natural diet and isn't covered in molasses (feed companies do that to convince the horses to eat unpalatable things often of poor quality or unnatural to their diet).
 
Jessey said:
Yep a handful of oats, at least they dont have all the mollasses on. The reason most horses turn their noses up at carrots and apples is they've never had them to know they are good, It can take a while to learn to enjoy them. Other good options are natural, low sugar horse cookies or using hay replacer pellets as a treat, anything that is similar to what you find in their natural diet and isn't covered in molasses (feed companies do that to convince the horses to eat unpalatable things often of poor quality or unnatural to their diet).
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Hmmm what about a bit of beet pulp in the winter?
Not sure he's ever had that before though...
 
I would cut out ~"treats" they don't need them, they don't know they are a treat just an extra feed thank you.

We don't feed anything with Molasses, the only time they get a little extra is when we are doing our stretching even then a tiny herbal nut is the reward or incentive to perform the exercise and its not everyday.

All ours are barefoot, Gem was ouchy the first few times out on the road, she wasn't used to roadwork full stop, she was kept to a walk , short outings and lengthening each time and now she is fine, her feet just needed to adjust to change in surface(transition).

Saying that ours are native breeds , when we had our TBx he couldn't hold shoes so we transitioned him to barefoot, took more work as he felt everything at first, wouldn't rule out shoes for any of ours if it was deemed absolutely necessary thankfully not so far.
 
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