jleonard
Well-Known Member
I had the farrier out today to trim my very overdue herd (bad me). This was only the fourth time we've used this farrier. The first time everything was fine, all of the horses looked good. Second time everyone was fine except for Locita, who has had hoof issues in the past. She was a little tender footed, and I noticed that her sole was touching the ground around the edge.
I had the farrier out again a few weeks later to reset a shoe on a biggie and had him take a look at Locita as she was still tender. He filed off a bit of her sole and told us to put her in the side field (with a muzzle) where there was a little more grass to give her a softer surface to walk on as the ground around here is concrete at the moment. That seemed to help a bit, but she was never 100%.
I also wrapped her feet to give a bit more padding. Fast forward to today, she was very long, her hooves have been growing at twice the rate of everyone else. The farrier took a ton off, she is short, but not terribly so. What really concerns me is that her sole on all four hooves, rather than being concave, is convex. I don't know if anyone is familiar with the Reebok "butt" shoes with the balance balls on the bottom, but that is what her hooves now look like. One has a huge groove carved out of it. I can put my whole finger under the edge of that hoof when it is on the ground and it doesn't even touch.
He did not clean out her hooves at all (I barely had time to get them up, so hadn't picked them yet), he did not even look at her frog. She is now extremely sore. Her feet tend to turn out when they get long, but our previous farrier (who retired) could trim her so that she tracked straight and was comfortable. After this trim they are turned out more than ever and she cannot walk normally. I've been out to check her twice and to show my parents, the second time she was laying down, didn't want to get up, and had to rock back on her haunches to turn around. I feel terrible that she is in so much pain. The others had similar issues, but not to this extent and thus far they are not sore. Needless to say this farrier will not be back.
I am going to call my vet, as I need to have him out anyway and I want a professional to look at her and tell us where to go from here. Is there anything I can do in the mean time to make her more comfortable? What long term side effects do I need to worry about?
Thanks for your help, sorry for the long read.
I had the farrier out again a few weeks later to reset a shoe on a biggie and had him take a look at Locita as she was still tender. He filed off a bit of her sole and told us to put her in the side field (with a muzzle) where there was a little more grass to give her a softer surface to walk on as the ground around here is concrete at the moment. That seemed to help a bit, but she was never 100%.
I also wrapped her feet to give a bit more padding. Fast forward to today, she was very long, her hooves have been growing at twice the rate of everyone else. The farrier took a ton off, she is short, but not terribly so. What really concerns me is that her sole on all four hooves, rather than being concave, is convex. I don't know if anyone is familiar with the Reebok "butt" shoes with the balance balls on the bottom, but that is what her hooves now look like. One has a huge groove carved out of it. I can put my whole finger under the edge of that hoof when it is on the ground and it doesn't even touch.
He did not clean out her hooves at all (I barely had time to get them up, so hadn't picked them yet), he did not even look at her frog. She is now extremely sore. Her feet tend to turn out when they get long, but our previous farrier (who retired) could trim her so that she tracked straight and was comfortable. After this trim they are turned out more than ever and she cannot walk normally. I've been out to check her twice and to show my parents, the second time she was laying down, didn't want to get up, and had to rock back on her haunches to turn around. I feel terrible that she is in so much pain. The others had similar issues, but not to this extent and thus far they are not sore. Needless to say this farrier will not be back.
I am going to call my vet, as I need to have him out anyway and I want a professional to look at her and tell us where to go from here. Is there anything I can do in the mean time to make her more comfortable? What long term side effects do I need to worry about?
Thanks for your help, sorry for the long read.