Horrid thing to hear

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Sid these days!
Apr 30, 2010
21,978
10,070
113
63
Surrey Hills
I heard, third hand, about something that has upset me hugely.

Ziggy's feet are in a state following his remedial shoeing. His soles are proud of the hoof wall on both fronts. Trevor my trimmer is concerned, but optimistic: he thinks we have brought him back from worse.

Apparently my old farrier saw Ziggy in the field the other day while trimming my field mate's horses. He looked at one hoof and said something along the lines of, "I don't give this horse more than 6 months."

My field mate only told me this when I asked her (she had told someone else, though) and said she was worried about him walking on the soles, and that she didn't know enough about it to say anything to me directly. I really like her and know she knows a lot about horses, but I feel caught between a rock and a hard place.

I don't want to go into detail (though I will if anyone wants me to), but please sympathise with me for hearing something like that about my beloved pony! Personally I feel confident that his feet have looked this bad before, and that he can come back from it, and I suspect a little bit of sour grapes on the part of my farrier (who shod him before I went on to Trevor). But Lord, I don't need this as well as everything else.

For what it's worth, Ziggy is sound as a pound walking about, though perhaps he is a little short striding in front. I wouldn't keep him barefoot if he seemed to be sore.

I am so miserable. :cry:
 
:eek: Now pull yourself together, you are stronger than this and you know it! How dare they? Yard gossip at its very worst and so hurtful and worrying.

If you are happy with Ziggy's feet, and your trimmer is happy with his feet, what the heck has it to do with anyone, ex farrier or whoever?

If he is sound, shod or unshod, that is all that matters isn't it? It sounds like extreme sour grapes to me, and to be ignored and brushed aside without another thought IMO. :frown:
 
Sorry to read that someone has said something negative about Ziggy and his poor feet. you must be beside yourself.

As for his feet has something else happened to make them this way again. I thought the remedial work he had done worked and he was back on track. Sorry if I have missed a thread.

You say trevor is not worried but what action is being taken. I do not know anything about barefoot so please ignore me the answer is obvious.
 
Well, Trevor and I are both worried, because as soon as the remedial shoes were taken off we could see his feet were back to where they were before - too sloping (if that's the right word), toe too long, sole too thick and proud of the hoof wall, rubbish feet altogether. He only got 4 out of 10 for his fronts on the last trim, having been up to 7.1 before the abscess.

Trevor is giving it one more trim before asking for x rays for guidance: and I trust Trevor so am trying not to worry. Apart from the short stride he doesn't seem unhappy, but he is a stoic little chap. I know people see feet differently, and I know Suzi wasn't being gossipy or hurtful. I'm just distressed. You're right, Cortrasna, I should pull myself together but I feel feek and weable *sigh*
 
I would have a few emotions right now.
One, anger for a farrier to be interfering with my pony when they are not there to be seeing to them!
Two I would be deeply upset.

Its sounding like you have dropped soles, you may also have your white line that feels like little hairs? It will compromise the internal structure ie its all connected to your pedal bone. But my cob did this on all four feet and we kept an eye on her and she sorted herself out.
I did boot up with pads to stimulate the frog to get off its arse and realise it had work to do. I didn't ride but did in hand walking. Without a photo I can only guess your talking about dropped soles?
Your trimmer may suggest xrays to see what's happened internally, but I was in touch with my vet and only if my cob went lame would we do that. If your chap is still sound, I would think his body is trying to sort out his feet, its what horses do.

Have you got boots with pads?

:hug
 
Last edited:
If you're both worried then get the x-rays now, the sooner you have the full picture then the sooner you can be sure you're working in the right direction - and who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised & have far less to worry about than you think!

Perhaps the comment about not giving Ziggy 6 months is more a reflection on your old farrier's abilities than the true state of Ziggy's feet ......
 
Cortrasna said:
:eek: Now pull yourself together, you are stronger than this and you know it! How dare they? Yard gossip at its very worst and so hurtful and worrying.

If you are happy with Ziggy's feet, and your trimmer is happy with his feet, what the heck has it to do with anyone, ex farrier or whoever?

If he is sound, shod or unshod, that is all that matters isn't it? It sounds like extreme sour grapes to me, and to be ignored and brushed aside without another thought IMO. :frown:
Click to expand...

^^^ This ^^^

This farrier hasn't been involved, doesn't know whats happening currently and has a vested interest in poopooing treatments other than what he has to offer. You have no reason to listen to him or to take his words to heart. Youre doing what you believe best so should be proud of yourself rather than letting one person's thoughtless comment get you down. Stuff 'em!!!!
 
Agree with all of the above really and I don't really think I can say much extra on top of the good advice you have already been given. Please don't question yourself or feel bad, you are doing the right thing by Ziggy and you are in the best place to decide what the right thing for him is - not some old farrier who knows nothing of the situation. I agree with carthorse - perhaps xrays just now might put your mind at rest and also I think that the more you have (within reason obviously, I'm not suggesting constant X-rays as I know how much they cost!) the more you can see improvements and anything that needs to be improved:wink:

I know it is not quite the same but several people have questioned or made remarks about why I have kept Rubic going. Lets face it - if they weren't sound then things might be different but they both are so we must be doing something right eh?!?:smile:
 
I think in your shoes I would have the X rays now - just to be sure what is going on internally and allow your trimmer to make adjustments in the trimming as required - the hoof has a way of protecting itself whilst healing - we had thick (extra laying) of sole for some time during the remedial trimming, the toes had to come back and the heels come down ( 2 to 3 weekly sympathetically) - this gave the illusion of no wall support however other than toe it was, I was horrified one day when the extra sole peeled off - however when I rang my farrier he said it was to be expected and he was on his way - he came out trimmed him up and we never looked back - he had shed false sole on both fronts when his body told him he could cope without - underneath was strong sole - we were remedial trimming off X rays and I wish I had had them done sooner.

Hopefully this is what is happening here but I think you do need to have the X rays so you can be sure you are on the right track - hes sound so thats a good indicator - I am no expert but if he has foundered and the soles had dropped then I wouldn't expect him to be comfortable.

Try not to worry, not very professional of your previous farrier IMO!
 
That sort of comment would knock the wind out of me aswell, I can understand how upset you must be. It makes you question if the route you're taking is appropriate.
Use it to fuel you. Keep questioning, keep pushing and that farrier will feel silly in a year when ziggy's feet look fab again.

But in all honesty it was probably a throw away comment designed to receive a reaction and not at all thought through. He'll have likely forgotten what he'd said by the next fart out his arse.
 
Jane, that really is distressing. I'm sure everyone is right and you shouldn't take to much notice of the farrier, but I do sympathise with how you must feel. I've been there myself with Raf's feet and legs and spent many days/nights worrying myself sick (over nothing so far as it turns out).

Ziggy will be ok because you are looking after him and will do the best you can for him. If you and Trevor were ignoring the fact that he had a problem then he might be in trouble, but that isn't the case. Hugs and support from Raf and me.
 
How common is it that professionals behave like this? I had instructor who used to bad mouth anyone not doing things her way.
People shouldn't be flippant about comments like that, professional especially.
 
Thank you all. I really appreciate it.

Trevor is coming again soon, I will email him and ask him whether he would like x rays beforehand. At least now Ziggy can walk over to my house to have the x rays taken, rather than needing to lay more than 100m of extension cable over to the field!
 
some people are insensitive idiots!!

Someone once said that my old girl 'looked like something out of Last of the Summer Wine' followed by questioning why I didn't have 'it' shot ... lovely ...
 
I think its pretty horrible for someone to pass on a comment like that. What is it supposed to achieve other than make you feel more upset and worried than you are already.

Lots of things are said flippantly behind peoples backs. No need to pass them on imo.

You are doing what you feel is the best for Ziggy and as long as you feel confident, carry on.

Its always difficult when more than one 'expert' have differing opinions. You just have to go with your own gut feeling in the end. There is more than one way to boil an egg.
 
I think that I would ring the farrier who made the comment and ask him to explain what he meant in more detail. I wouldn't get too hung up on questioning if your friend should have told you or not, but I would be very concerned about his opinion and if he is right or not. The only way you will find out if he has something valid to say is if you ask him directly. You can then take him opinion to your trimmer and decide if he has a point or not.
 
Mary Poppins said:
I think that I would ring the farrier who made the comment and ask him to explain what he meant in more detail. I wouldn't get too hung up on questioning if your friend should have told you or not, but I would be very concerned about his opinion and if he is right or not. The only way you will find out if he has something valid to say is if you ask him directly. You can then take him opinion to your trimmer and decide if he has a point or not.
Click to expand...

That's probably not a bad idea. But I'm not sure that I have the guts at the moment... :unsure:
 
I think PFB has hit the nail on the head, without knowing Ziggy's recent history I would say your old farrier is not in a position to make an educated comment.

However, I am concerned that you and Trevor think Ziggy's feet are in a state after the remedial shoeing and require to be re-shaped. Surely the whole point of remedial shoeing is to help the feet and get them into a shape and condition best suited to the horse and whatever issue you are trying to overcome....essentially remedial shoeing was intended (from memory) to gently change Ziggys hoof balance to allow him to be more comfortable and, more importantly, sound!

I am a novice, and I have even less knowledge of remedial shoeing or keeping a horse barefoot, so feel free to ignore me....I just dont understand why you would be wanting to change the work done by the remedial shoeing when it worked :unsure: or am I missing something?
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back