Does this trim look okay? She is very foot sore.

Waikato Valuta

Waikato Valuta

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Aug 8, 2002
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I just tried a new farrier who was recommended by my vet. The day after the trim all four feet swelled to above the fetlock and her back was so sore that she would almost sit down with just light pressure. She is also VERY foot sore. After a month off she started looking good again.

I decided that was a mistake and went back to the old farrier however after the trim she once again got very sore. No swelling but VERY tender even on grass and her back got all tight.

It has been three weeks since the last trim and she is better but still not as happy on all surfaces as she was before this disaster.

Can anyone see what is wrong with this trim? Or is it something else causing all the trouble?

Front Foot

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Back foot

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I'm assuming they're current hoof pics? They look good and the length looks OK to me, were they much shorter post trim?

Sore after a trim, even a tactful one, can be a sign of metabolic / low grade laminitis problems. So I'd personally be looking to see if I could reduce the amount of sugar and starch in the diet (mixes, lush pasture) to see if that helped. It's spring where you are isn't it? Grass is always at its worst then, assuming your horse has access to pasture.

I'd also be looking to see if I could trim less / less often, nice feet like that doing plenty of work can often become relatively self maintaining.
 
Yeah. That was yesterday. I have been thinking it might be diet. Although I'm not sure what I can change. She is out in a large paddock with other horses and their aren't a lot of other options at this agistment. We don't give her any extra feed. I had her in a yard for a while but it seemed to just get worse when she wasn't able to move around. Would an increase in exercise help? She is relatively okay at the moment. Just tender on hard ground. Would founder guard or something like that help?

I would love to trim her less often. I used to get her done every 8-12 weeks depending how they looked and I never had a problem. The new people seem to thing they MUST do it every 4 weeks at a minimum. They wanted to come every 2 weeks for a while at the start to "fix" her feet but I said no.

These were taken the day after the trim. Her feet were a bit dirty so it's harder to see.

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its summer over there isnt it? and out on a big paddock full of grass? i would be thinking grass related soreness rather than trim. I too think the shape/hoof look good.
 
The trim of itself, although quite short doesn't look to me like it should be causing problems in a healthy hoof, there's still a little heel height and it doesn't look like they've messed with the sole.

If you can't do a lot about diet then I'd look to see if I could go a little longer between trims and talk to the farrier about leaving a bit more wall and heel height, that can make a big difference to comfort levels. I'd also be looking at using boots for rides where I know rough ground is going to cause problems.
 
Would a product like Founder Guard or Equisure work?

I could put her in a yard but last time I did that she got even more sore so I am reluctant. She has only been out in the big paddock for about a month and it has helped a lot. Her back is no longer sore and her foot soreness is now only on hard surfaces.
 
Don't know much about them but there would be no harm in trying. If she's sore in hand on a smooth hard surface even now I would be worried about laminitis to be honest. How old is she and what's her breeding? What sort of condition is she in?
 
She will be 6yo in December. She is a purebred Arab.

This photo was taken yesterday. Sorry it's not the best shot but it's the most recent one I have and you can roughly see her condition.

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These were taken about six weeks ago. She was a lot sorer back then than she is now:
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A few months ago she got very skinny because of the stress of moving to a new agistment spot and then getting what the vet thought was probably a stomach ulcer. This seems to be where all the trouble started as she also got a very sore back and started getting reluctant to move forward. But she was very skinny then.
 
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gosh i was expecting an overweight horse not an absolutely stunning great condition Arab!!

perhaps it is more the case then that the trimming too often is making her sore. Has she ever had shoes on or always been barefoot?
 
when i posted the one of you riding in the lake wasnt showing, do you think she has put alot of weight on in between the two sets of pics? difficult to tell when she is submerged lol!
 
Gorgeous pony!! :)

She's young and not overweight, so it's unlikely to be something like cushings which teenage arabs seem to be quite prone to. Is using a grass muzzle (with an enlarged hole if necessary) perhaps during the daytime an option? Can make quite a difference if the spring grass isn't helping.
 
This is her when she was super skinny. She was stressed and running around the paddock non stop. She wore her own feet very short without the need of a trimmer. She wouldn't eat the food I gave her, her back and feet were very sore.

So she has gone from very skinny to plump in about 4 months. Although I don't think the weight gain has been a bad thing in it's self. She was at her worst when she was skinny.
 

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Sorry posted over the top of you. A grazing muzzle might be an option. I made her wear one last year. She hated it but it kept her looking good.

Can you leave them on all the time? She is 1 hour from my home so I only go out once a day. I could do one day on, one day off or something like that but I can't be taking it on and off throughout the day.
 
Depends how much grass you've got but most horses wouldn't get enough to keep going with an unmodified muzzle on 24/7. You could experiment with a larger hole though and closely monitor her weight and condition, it may not fix the problem but it might make her a bit sounder.

Concussion can cause problems of its own with sensitive horses like this, like I said hoof boots would probably be a good idea and would work well with nice feet like that.

My guess would be that leaving it on day in day out even if she's getting more grass is always going to be better than day on / day off if it is a laminitis type issue.
 
That is an option, and it might be the kindest thing to do if the horse is sore in the field and the OP can't do anything about it, but it won't make the suspected laminitis go away. The other issue is that shoeing it could be very painful and difficult as a result.
 
Maybe it would be best to get the vet back out? She's been sore for some time now & despite trying you can't seem to get to the bottom of it. I had similar problems with Little Un & no amount of management changes etc etc seemed to get to the bottom of it although some did help. Turns out he's insulin resistant & a course of Metformin allowed us to get on top of the problem - end result a welsh cob that no longer has sore feet & is bouncing round very happily :biggrin:
 
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