Footsoreness?

[NathanSen]

The ponies all got there 6 weekly trim on Thursday. Two came up lame the day after. Asked the farrier and he said he has to cut them a little shorter than normal due to them both having pretty bad cracks - which was true. They don’t want to walk on concrete which is unstable, so they on grass to and from the field. - they live out - there coming up twice a day for food and supplements. But I’ve had numerous people saying I should be box resting them till they are sound. There both quiet happy to be outside. No lameness on grass. Still galloping, bucking and being idiots.

I’ve never box rested for being footsore. There not being worked till they aren’t sore anymore but I don’t think footsoreness warrants box resting, should I be box resting them?

 

[carthorse]

This time of year I'd be very wary of footsore being the start of laminitis, if I suspected that I would box rest immediately. I'd be concerned about a farrier trimming so short it left them sore, I would have thought if the cracks were that bad it would have been better to trim to alleviate the pressure on them rather than trim them right out and lame the horse.

Some warnings for early laminitis
- raised digital pulses
- stepping shorter on a hard surface than a soft one
- shortened stride, maybe looking pottery
- wrong on a tight turn, they can almost look like they lurch or fall round it
- reluctance to step back
- a crest forming on the neck, particularly if it goes hard

If you're seeing any of the above be extremely careful and if a combination then get the vet and get them on box rest. Far better to identify and act at this stage than wait until you have a very sore horse - it could literally save their lives.

 

[Jessey]

Yep I'd 2nd @carthorse there I'd be wary of lami, it's another bad year for it, I'd be restricting immediately if there was any possibility of it.
But if you are 100% sure it is simply that the farrier over trimmed then giving it a few days on soft footing to resolve isn't unreasonable, but I'd be having words with the farrier to ensure it doesn't happen again, a horse left sore after a trim is a bad trim for that horse.

 

[NathanSen]

100% not lami, definitely footsore (both been footsore before and acted the same way)
They have no signs of lami bare from being foot sore. They both back up, turn, not heat in foot, no pulse.

Spoke to the farrier and we’ve agreed to do an early visit should there feet grow faster than normal. He owned up to it right away, and offered to come back the week later to check them over himself.

 

[Cortrasna]

Sorry but if a farrier trimmed mine so short they were lame - even for a short while I would be most definitely finding a more competent farrier. There is no excuse in the world for a trim laming a horse, with rescues as an example with horrific cracks and overgrown hooves they are only ever (well by competent folk anyway) gradually trimmed back to a correct and comfortable angles at a rate that will not cause any lameness or problems after hoof neglect.

 

[NathanSen]

Sorry but if a farrier trimmed mine so short they were lame - even for a short while I would be most definitely finding a more competent farrier. There is no excuse in the world for a trim laming a horse, with rescues as an example with horrific cracks and overgrown hooves they are only ever (well by competent folk anyway) gradually trimmed back to a correct and comfortable angles at a rate that will not cause any lameness or problems after hoof neglect.

They wasn’t trimmed shorter than they can normally handle. They’ve been trimmed like this before - just this once they’ve come up lame. He’s the only decent farrier that will touch two of my ponies - (one rears with most farrier and one won’t let a farrier near him - both absolutely terrified of them. - nothing can be done training wise anymore. Anyone else can pick their feet up, mess with them. But as soon as you’re farrier the fear sets in) he’s normally pretty decent about their feet. In the 3 years that I’ve used him this is the first time they’ve come up lame.

 

[carthorse]

In that case I'd be back to worrying about laminitis. If a horse is bordering on an attack a trim or shoeing can be the last straw. Also in your first post you did say he trimmed them shorter than normal due to cracks, but now you say it wasn't shorter than they can normally handle - which is it?

 

[Mary Poppins]

I don’t like the term footsore. The horses are either lame or sound. Their feet either hurt or they don’t.

I would be on laminitis alert as well. Better to be safe than sorry in my opinion.

 

[eventerbabe]

Echo the others. Have had this with my welsh D. He didn't have laminitis but was on the cusp of it and a trim made him so uncomfortable. We did box rest on limited, soaked, double netted hay then very restricted grazing (we muzzled, you could strip graze or track whatever suits).