shod Monday, short striding Wednesday

[Susanne21]

My TB dressage horse was shod on Monday. Have no problems with current farrier although the horse had a prior history of thin walls, some occasional soreness after shoeing with previous farriers. My trainer rode him on Tuesday, said he felt fine. Wednesday I put him on the longe line prior to riding and he was noticeably short-striding on the LF. No limping or head-bobbing. I got on for a few minutes and he felt stiff, sort of uneven, and I noticed he was just not stepping out on the LF normally.

I asked the farrier to check him out which he did Thurs AM and found no problems with nails, said hooftesters were negative (he has pads)

Gave him a day off Thurs. Today my trainer longed him and said he was improved, but I checked him after the work she did and he was short-striding on the LF again the same as Wednesday.

Should I ask the farrier to re-do the LF and see if any problems? He has no indication of any lower-limb injury. We have had some wet footing and stall conditions lately and I wondered if this is contributing to some foot soreness. How much time should I give this to resolve? Any other suggestions?

[Rick Burten]

I think I'd want that shoe and pad off and then the hoof testers applied.

Sometimes its just the hoof packing under the pad is too much, sometimes , if the foot is just a smidgen short, the pad will , in and of itself, put just enough pressure on the sole to cause soreness. Sometimes, even though each nail was checked, one of them is just close enough that when the horse is worked, it irritate him.

You should check the limb, at the fetlock, for any increased pulse, either medial , lateral, or both. This generally indicates some inflammation/pain.
Also check to see if both feet/ coronary bands/pasterns feel about the same temperature.

To me, short striding is akin to limping, whether he is head bobbing or not.

If your trainer said he was OK on Tues., how could she say he is now improved. Improved from what?

Can't tell you how long it may take to resolve because we don't yet know what the problem is.

That said, yesterday would not have been too soon to start the diagnostic process and tomorrow means waiting too long. JMNTBCHO.

Rick

[Susanne21]

thank you so much Rick, I have called the farrier already and asked him to come back to do exactly what you say... we use Equithane under the pads - I don't know if this is good to do all the time....I am thinking exactly what you say.

[Dave Purves]

I find it interesting that while the trainer is working the horse he seems fine to the trainer, and then when the trainer is done and you are working the horse he is off. It could be the shoe, it could be the routine that the trainer puts the horse through, if the trainer is consistently going one direction, or really to me it sounds like a muscle or tendon strain. Maybe he just got worked a little too hard the next day and is a little sore. I'm certainly not against pulling the shoe and taking a look, but don't get dead set on there being something wrong with the shoe. It's easy to think it's the shoe certainly so close to when he was just done, but many things can factor in. Don't be afraid to call in the vet and get a good diagnosis.
just my opinion
Dave Purves CF :)

[Donnie Walker]

Are your pads made of equi-build (black) or insta-pad (clear)? Sometimes, with a soft, pliable foot, if the bars aren't tapered, and/or if the crevices of the commisures are deep, the equi-build pad will create a pinching affect, especially under maneuvers or with the added weight of a rider.

[Susanne21]

they are the black ones Donnie, thanks

[J.H. shoeing]

What "prior" lameness issues does your horse have?? Sounds like he is pretty thin soled also along with his thin walls.
If he is already in pads and equi-build then he may have a previous condition that has been aggravated.

I like the equi-pak better on the horses that are more sole sensitive.
Jeff

[Moses Shaw]

i agree with jeff ,in my humble opinion the equi-build is much to unforgiving for a performance horse, and i am wondering why he is in that to begin with does he have flat feet is your farrier trying to bring the arch back into his foot.does your horse have a lameness history? i have seen that product used in that manner and have devastating effects. the soft is more forgiving and works just as well. Good Luck Mo

[Susanne21]

he does have thin walls and flat feet. The product we use I think is called Equi-pak, it is the light-colored gel which looks sort of like the kind of glue we used to use in grammar school. The one which goes on warm in a plastic gun type thing. My previous farrier used it occasionally but only every few shoeings. With this current farrier who is a sort of "performance" farrier for dressage horses he has been using it regularly for 12 months or so.

The horse has not had any significant lameness, but has had incidents of footsoreness, being sore after shoeing, etc in the past. Used to have a lot of cracking, loose shoes, shoes falling off the last week. Since using the Equi-pak or whatever it's called his foot condition has improved quite a bit, no problems.

I had difficulty getting the farrier out on the weekend, the horse seemed to be improving although after some longeing yesterday he was back to "square 1" today so he is coming out tomorrow am and I plan to have him pull the shoe as Rick originally suggested. He did tell me the horse had gotten quite long and as I mentioned we have had some undesirably wet conditions... I am hopeful we find out something tomorrow...

[Susanne21]

p.s. I said black in response to Donnie's question since I thought he was asking about the pads themselves, not the packing

[Donnie Walker]

For clarification purposes, does your horse have a solid "black pad" between the shoe and foot that was nailed on along with the shoe, or does he have a "black" equi-build pad that was applied into the sole of the foot after the shoe was nailed on, or does he have both?

[Susanne21]

he has a solid black pad nailed onto the foot with the shoe. Between the pad and his foot he has the Equi-pak which is applied after the shoes are on

[cynthia-jay]

it sounds like your horse was trimmed a bit differently and as previously stated the packing may be causing problems as well as the trim and shoes

If the Farriere trimmed the toe back a bit much the other 3 hooves may be off as well
a complete check of all 4 is in order and bruising may be involved
good luck
as always
Jay

[Susanne21]

the farrier checked the horse Tuesday am. Found sensitivity to hoof testers on both hind feet at the middle (medial?) nails on the inside of each foot. I thought in observing the RH was a little worse than the LH.

he pulled the nails and then we checked the LF removing the shoe and the Equi-Pak. No sensitivity at all to hoof testers anywhere on the LF foot!

He replaced the Equi-Pak with pine tar packing. Recommended some bute and some light activity and see how he does. Today I felt a little warmth on the RH when cleaning his feet. Just going to take it easy with him for the next few days and see how he is....

[Susanne21]

p.s. by the way he said on his first visit he did not check the hind feet..!!!