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Q:
Hi,
My horse was shoed yesterday and today he seems reluctant to walk.
He uncommonly stopped walking while I led him to his stall from his turnout and
it seemed to me that it hurt to take a step. His hooves were warm but my
trainer told me that I could still ride him and not to worry. I took him
for a half hour trail ride. The one time I trotted him he seemed out of
sync. He walked a lot better on the way home, not so reluctant and when I
got back I sprayed his feet with cold water. After that his feet didn't
feel so warm. Is it ok that I rode him and is this common after being
shod? I would appreciate any information you have since I am a new horse
owner. Thanks,
A:
Some horses do tend to be a little sore after being freshly shod. If the farrier
is told of the problem before working on the horse he can usually avoid it.
There are many things he can do to prevent this soreness.
The main culprit causing
after-shoeing tenderness is sole pressure from the shoe. All good shoeing jobs
include concaving the bearing surface of the shoe to prevent this. With a
horse known to be extra sensitive, however, the farrier should take extra
pains to make sure the sole is pressure free. I have a mare that I call the
Queen of Sole Pressure but even she can be comfortable right after shoeing as
long as I make sure the farrier knows she is a real tender-foot.
Other common causes of
soreness after shoeing include close nails, excessive hammering on a
sensitive horse (especially one that has previously been foundered), improper
clinching, trimming too short, etc.
Now that I have given you new
things to worry about but no real answer, I will tell you that in your place I
would immediately call my farrier and explain in some detail as you did in
your question to me how the horse is moving. Many farriers will make a trip
out the same day if possible to check the horse. All farriers know that they
can occasionally cause a horse to be sore and as long as the owner isn't
unreasonably accusatory they are willing and eager to do everything they can
to check out the situation and rectify it if possible.
If the farrier isn't available
right away and the trainer is not well acquainted with your horse's past
reactions to shoeing I would want to have a veterinarian check out the
horse. The symptoms you describe could be caused by the above relatively
benign situations but they could also be telling you that your horse has more
serious problems. The worst and most common one that comes to mind is
laminitis. For your own education, regardless of the outcome of this
particular soreness, I urge you to read all the Q&As on our web site,
especially those having to do with founder & laminitis. Laminitis
& Founder questions are listed separately from the other general
questions on the Q&A Index at http://www.americanblacksmith.com/blacksmithstable/horseshoeing_questions-answers.htm .
As a trainer myself I can not
imagine telling my client to trail ride a sore horse. If I knew the horse to
be prone to getting sore after shoeing like I do with my Queen of Sole
Pressure mare
- I would tell the client to
phone the farrier immediately.
- If the farrier couldn't
get out until the next day I would suggest giving the horse some Bute if the
owner had some that the veterinarian had given him and instructed him
as to usage.
- I would have the owner
treat all 4 of the horse's soles with Durasole or 7% iodine.
- I would suggest confining
the horse to a deeply bedded stall until the farrier could check him out.
- If the soreness persisted
or worsened I would want to have a vet eliminate the more serious
possibilities such as laminitis.
Minor sole pressure and/or
bruises can progress to major sole bruises, abscesses and even laminitis. This
does not usually happen but it can. Riding causes concussion and can be the
"final straw" that can cause a minor problem to become a serious
one.
I hope this will give you some
information to go on. I do not want to worry you needlessly but you obviously
want to do the right thing for your horse. In order to do so you will need to
know what is causing the soreness and deal with it appropriately. Please let
me know how this problem works out.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mary Bayard
Dodge Creek Stables
The American Blacksmith
Oakland, Oregon
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