Hi All
Its been quite a while since I have posted on here but am seeking some advice regarding my new horse. To give some background:
3 weeks ago I purchased her, she is a 6 yr old TB ex-racer (though according to previous owner never actually raced). She has been out of work some time and came with only shod on her fronts. The previous owner advised that she is absolutely fine with the farrier. I did not vet her due to her low price, I made the decision not to. The only vices we were advised of was the dentist and trailering.
The first week we got her I had her at my instructors yard (breaking yard) just to spend a week seeing what she was like etc and for me to be surrounded with plenty of help. She is a very calm horse, great on the ground, quiet with most things. She settled in fairly well. We started with lunging her and she was really responsive, moving freely so we were happy to move forward. The next day she showed lameness on her rear foot. We ascertained it was not a weight bearing issue and put it down to her being bare foot on the rears being brought back into work and walking on harder surfaces (she is typical of TBs with flat feet). After a day she was back to normal, tracking up and putting full weight on both. I arranged with my instructor for her farrier to come and replace the fronts and shoe the rears. Due to her temperament so far, her old owners previous comments and the fact my instructor had spent as much time as me with her I wasn't there for the farrier. By all accounts she reacted badly to the steam and escalated from there. He was able to do the fronts but not the rears.
She is now staying at the livery, she has really settled in well and I have been working her 5 days a week. She showed no signs of lameness etc and I had thought about leaving her barefoot on the rear. However we have hardcore paddocks she walks over daily and I do want to ride her on the road. So I asked the farrier to come and try her rears and I will be there for it (yes I learnt my first mistake!) She happily ate the hay net while he managed to get one of the rear shoes on. By the time he got the 2nd one she decided there was no chance at all we were getting that shoe on.
Now to point out we have done a nipping test with the foot with no reaction at all, myself and the yard owner have no issues picking her feet up. We have both had the hammer against her foot while she falls asleep. I've been doing all the recommended desensitising with her however she is not bothered with me doing it. I do stretches with her after riding and again she shows no discomfort when I am moving her legs.
So today we are sedating her to get the last shoe on but ideally I would like to get to a stage that she does not need to be sedated. I have the physio also coming out next friday to see if she can identify if there are any issues. At the moment we believe that day of lameness she showed was being foot sore due to the increase of working and hope that by shoeing her rears that will resolve that but of course I want to cover all bases. I also want to find the best solution for the farrier so any advice/tips would be welcome. I have a good support network who have been going through this with me but I welcome further advice or something we may not of thought of
ps sorry the length of the post!
Its been quite a while since I have posted on here but am seeking some advice regarding my new horse. To give some background:
3 weeks ago I purchased her, she is a 6 yr old TB ex-racer (though according to previous owner never actually raced). She has been out of work some time and came with only shod on her fronts. The previous owner advised that she is absolutely fine with the farrier. I did not vet her due to her low price, I made the decision not to. The only vices we were advised of was the dentist and trailering.
The first week we got her I had her at my instructors yard (breaking yard) just to spend a week seeing what she was like etc and for me to be surrounded with plenty of help. She is a very calm horse, great on the ground, quiet with most things. She settled in fairly well. We started with lunging her and she was really responsive, moving freely so we were happy to move forward. The next day she showed lameness on her rear foot. We ascertained it was not a weight bearing issue and put it down to her being bare foot on the rears being brought back into work and walking on harder surfaces (she is typical of TBs with flat feet). After a day she was back to normal, tracking up and putting full weight on both. I arranged with my instructor for her farrier to come and replace the fronts and shoe the rears. Due to her temperament so far, her old owners previous comments and the fact my instructor had spent as much time as me with her I wasn't there for the farrier. By all accounts she reacted badly to the steam and escalated from there. He was able to do the fronts but not the rears.
She is now staying at the livery, she has really settled in well and I have been working her 5 days a week. She showed no signs of lameness etc and I had thought about leaving her barefoot on the rear. However we have hardcore paddocks she walks over daily and I do want to ride her on the road. So I asked the farrier to come and try her rears and I will be there for it (yes I learnt my first mistake!) She happily ate the hay net while he managed to get one of the rear shoes on. By the time he got the 2nd one she decided there was no chance at all we were getting that shoe on.
Now to point out we have done a nipping test with the foot with no reaction at all, myself and the yard owner have no issues picking her feet up. We have both had the hammer against her foot while she falls asleep. I've been doing all the recommended desensitising with her however she is not bothered with me doing it. I do stretches with her after riding and again she shows no discomfort when I am moving her legs.
So today we are sedating her to get the last shoe on but ideally I would like to get to a stage that she does not need to be sedated. I have the physio also coming out next friday to see if she can identify if there are any issues. At the moment we believe that day of lameness she showed was being foot sore due to the increase of working and hope that by shoeing her rears that will resolve that but of course I want to cover all bases. I also want to find the best solution for the farrier so any advice/tips would be welcome. I have a good support network who have been going through this with me but I welcome further advice or something we may not of thought of
ps sorry the length of the post!