Is it something serious?

[anandi]

Hi guys

I need some outside opinions pleeeeez! (as we are ALWAYS biased when it comes to our ponies).

My girl is barefoot, always has been and I have NEVER had problems with her feet. After the holidays the toes of her front feet were a little long and as soon as I got her back into work I noticed this, and also noticed that she had quite a choppy step. Thus, her feet were trimmed and after her stride was still a little choppy, dropping her one shoulder a little. I decided that she was still a little footsore and only did work in hand for the next 4 days.

BUT, after 4 days she is still footsore - short choppy strides and dropping that one shoulder. It's very slight but it's there!

Should I start to worry? Will it pass or could it be something like navicular or laminitis?!?!?!

Any help/experience would be appreciated :-)

[janwilky]

What did your farrier/trimmer think? It's a bit difficult to advise without seeing the horse or the feet, but it's always a good idea to take any footiness seriously, particularly if she's never had a problem before. How old is she? Winter laminitis can be a symptom of PPID (Cushings) so if you're in any doubt at all it would be a good idea to get your vet involved.

You might also find it helpful to ask for help on the Phoenixhorse forum, which is a barefoot owners' group so there are lots of people on there with experience of foot issues.

[anandi]

Thanks - I do think I'm going to give it time untill the end of the week and then phone the vet if things aren't ok.
My mare is 12 now and the farrier (and me too) was pretty happy with her feet once we'd trimmed the toes back a bit.
I'll check out the forum you recommended - thanks!

[lesleyking1]

Have you changed her feed this winter, now had few months of winter so a feed change might now show in her feet by causing a change in the growth pattern, my mares feet have seen vast improvement when we went on a low sugar feed, have you checked sugar level? If you are on same feed as normal then she may have developed a sugar intolerance. Probably the trim that's done it, my lady was trimmed last week and was footy for two days, which was unusual for her, in the past I had another farrier do her and he took off way too much, like you I wasn't sure it was the trim so I Buted her for a week and she was fine and problem didn't recur with next farrier, so I knew it was the trim, my vet is happy to advise over the phone and agreed to assume it was the trim and pain killer for the week, but if continued then he would come out, would your vet have a chat over the phone. I take it you have checked for swellings and heat every where, is she footy on all four

[southerncomfort]

I think there is a world of difference between being a bit careful/walking gingerly on hard surfaces which is what I would describe as being 'footy', and being in enough pain that the walk is shuffly and their is a real reluctance to go in to trot.

If it is definately just a bit of footiness, then it could be anything from mud making the soles soft and sensitive, a bit of thrush in the clefts of the frogs, bruised soles, an abcess brewing or a reaction to feed (most often it seems to be alfalfa based feeds).

The fact that you describe your horse as dropping one shoulder in particular shouts 'lameness' to me rather than just being a bit footsore. It may be something brewing in the foot but I certainly wouldn't discount lameness somewhere further up. I also wouldn't discount laminitis either although I would have expected your farrier to have noticed if there were any strong signs of lami.

[merryberry]

Google Hoofing Marvellous too.

[anandi]

Thanks for the advice everyone! :-)

[portiabuzz]

I would be ringing my trimmer for advice .. hope she's ok

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[mollichop]

How is she now Anandi?

[anandi]

She is still lame mollichop, thanks for asking. We have checked her feet thoroughly so I decided that it must be muscular. I've had the physio out and she said that there was a LOT of stiffness in my mare's neck and pol?! Which is not the norm for her. So she must have hurt herself somehow and the stiffness in her neck is affecting her shoulder and thus her movement.

With some physio and a slow and steady training regime I'm hoping to get her back on track soon!

[mollichop]

Fingers crossed for you both

[portiabuzz]

Hope she's ok xx

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