Posted by Heidi on March 25, 2003 at 09:39:21:
TB gelding came off track sore. Body soreness went away, but left front hoof soreness still there (originally thought it was knees, but that was ruled out by vet). X-rays showed gravelling in left front hoof. After a while, the horse cut its hoof near top back part which allowed gravelling to pop out. Horse went sound after gravelling popped. This is information supplied to me by the person who I bought the horse from. The person I bought the horse from told me they kept horse barefoot and outside 24/7 during winter and shod it's front hooves with a full pad with a slight wedge when being trail ridden. Said the horse has flat soles and underrun heels.
The horse shipped in to me with the full pads on the front shoes and with rear shoes on also. I am considering pulling its shoes and letting it go barefoot when the farrier comes - to see if there really is a big difference in the way the horse goes. I do not plan on riding this horse for a while and since owner told me horse was fine without shoes during winter - that would lead me to believe horse should still be fine out in pasture without shoes and in indoor sand arena without shoes (lunge work only).
My question is, will this horse be predisposed to gravelling? Will it be bad to lunge this horse in the indoor sand arena without shoes on (gravelling may come back)? What can I do to find out if this horse will be predisposed to gravelling? When I bought my other TB, she had weak hooves and underrun heels and through proper trimming over time, this has been corrected. I would like to see if proper trimming will correct this gelding's hooves so I can get away from using the full pads, etc. Thanks for any suggestions!