I had a farrier (not mine) pull the shoes off of my horse who has had them for 8 years. He was sound for 3 weeks, I started jumping him again, and he was doing fine. Then he came up lame on both front feet (more on the right) and it felt just like he does when he has a stone bruise. I had my farrier (who was then back in town) come look at him, and he trimmed him up and changed the angle a bit. The next day my horse felt a little stiff, but for the most part was back to himself. I did walk, trot with him. I did it again the next day, and then the 3rd day he was dead lame again. He's been like that for 2 weeks now. Do you think he will be ok if I just put shoes back on him? or do you think it's something more serious?
It depends on the horse and the work load and where it is ridden.
A horse kept in a padded stall then ridding in a nice deep sand ring would probably never miss shoes. A horse like ours kept on hard ground, lots of stones, ridden on hard ground really does need shoes.
"It's probably the worst idea since Hitler's dad said to Hitler's mum 'come up stairs Brunhilda-I'm feeling saucy tonight!'"
"Before criticising someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you are a mile from them when you do and they have no shoes"
He lives out on a 6 acre pasture with 2 other horses. There are a few rocks but it is mostly grass. I guess I'm just shocked that he hasnt gotten better with time off if its just because of rocks. I'm worried because I really dont need any extra vet bills.
It is going to depend also, if going over the rocks every day, like to water or snooze in sun. If he has been shod that long, then he isn't used to having to watch his step, as shoes protected him more.
And it could be even twigs/acorns anything at all, will bother him. And him staying lame/sore is going to depend on how hard he came down on whatever he did.
"If you listen to the horse, the horse will tell you what it wants to be." Dale Pugh
"You can undo in five seconds, the training it took you five years to accomplish." Wyman E. Bennett
Odds are that there is sub-clinical inflammation present that is brought to a clinical level when he is worked for a few days in a row. The inflammation has to be brought under control and that won't happen until his soles toughen up and/or his workload is reduced to give him enough time to heal. Shoes or boots may be of value, but the bottom line is that I wouldn't be doing much of anything with him until he shows he can handle a work load and remain sound. And I sure wouldn't be jumping him.
What Rick said.
Pictures will help a lot.
It's a lot to ask most horses to go from shod for 8 years, to barefoot and jumping in 3 weeks.
-- The Rothenberger FamilyHe who thinks he can do everything or knows everything has already reached the beginning of the end.
- JB Acres, owned and operated by Dynamite animals.
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When I remove the shoes of a horse who has been wearing them for more than two years....I fully expect to wait at least 30-60 days depending on horse before resuming jumping.
It allows the foot a good "toughening" up time...allows the horse to get the feel of barefoot again as well as travelling barefoot on ground....gives time for at least one trim to ensure the growth is correct without flares ect....plus...gives me an excuse to hack more...lol.
Even my guys who wear shoes only for 5 months of the year need a few weeks for their feet to come around 100% on stones ect. afterthey have been removed.
Originally Posted by farmeress
Yeah, no one mentioned that. I should have researched more. He was sound for a while so I didnt realize there would be an issue with more work as long as it was on the same terrain. He's not really improving, even with no work at all. Should I just suck it up and put shoes back on him? With shoes he's only been lame 2 times in 8 years.
Have you checked his heel bulbs for thrush ? I only mention this because I dealt with the same issues and it was thrush. When my horse had shoes on his heels were constricted and not allowed to expand and that left the cracks in his heels vunerable to thrush... I am treating it deep in the crevis and he is barefoot his feet look soooo much better !!
Now that he is barefoot and his toes are trimmed back his heels are coming into contact with the ground, along with his frog etc... those heels were hurting him because they were spongy from the thrush and he had never felt that before with the shoes on...
I have posted my experience before about going barefoot. But here it is again. I tried this about a year ago and it did not work for me. My girl, OTTB, has only ever had shoes on the fronts. Did not hear from the farrier for over two weeks when she was due, I had to find another one. I did and he could not come for a week so she was three weeks over due and in the meantime one of her shoes fell off and at some point we pulled the other one. I decided this would be a good time to go barefoot. New farrier came and trimmed her so short her stride was cut in half, she could not walk on anything, including the sand pasture turnout. About three days later her backs started to get sore. This farrier did not spend more then 10 minutes trimming her, I am not exaggerting either. He barely used a rasp, I think only on one back leg. I gave it some time, used products to toughen her sole but after 1 month she was not really significantly better, she could at this point walk on soft ground but nothing more. I decided to have her reshod but we had to wait almost three months to do this as the hoof had to grow enough to reshoe. She was grumpy all the time and not the same and I hated seeing her in pain.
I would not discourage you from doing it, in fact I think it is probably better for them if they can do it but as I learned not all can. It could take a long time for him to adjust. I have heard sometimes longer then a year. But I would say if they are not showing improvement through the trims then I would reshoe. Why did you take them off?
"Vogue and I lack a lot of finesse, we're usually just there to get the job done and it isn't always pretty" JESS!
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