My old gelding, who’s no longer around, lived to 10 days short of 35 years and was only shod once for a 10 day horse camping trip in the eastern Sierras which was very rocky. He lived a lot of his life in the desert and did fine with nothing special. We really only did therapeutic boots towards the end trying to keep him comfortable. We did drag riding for endurance rides, pulled flags for the same, and spent many miles out on trails on a regular basis. We also did pony club and lower level eventing. His feet were awesome. Some horse can do it, some need help when things get hard, and others just aren’t comfortable no matter what barefoot. I agree with everyone else, I’d have the vet out with the sudden change in comfort.
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Yes the same horse but started to bé unconfortable before thé worming épisode, vet is coming next week and i will ask him to do x rays. I have scoot boots, i will try them today and see if hé s better with those on
She was unconfortable on trail rides or in thé arena?
When I look to buy a horse, of course there is a PPE, but before I pay, my farrier looks at the horse. The last three horses I’ve bought, according to my farrier, will never need shoes. To me that’s a real selling point --I’ve saved a lot of money not putting shoes on three horses in the last 26 years.
I did a 250 mile trail ride on one of them --and for that ride only, the horse was shod (I still have his one and only pair of shoes) --but later the farrier said the horse probably would have been fine without them.
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.5/5 in the arena during a drought. Totally fine when the arena was dragged and normal
Moisture. She was negative to a hoof tester and no one could really see it but I could feel she was holding back and a little less confident sitting in the canter work. I work super hard with my animals to never let anything hit an acutely uncomfortable phase if I can help it and try to respond at the first sign of something being different.
There is a Facebook event coming up with Maureen Kelleher, DVM who is now at Ohio State and I attended a presentation of hers last summer and it was well worth the time. Her #1 recommendation on keeping a horse healthy and sound was annual xrays to confirm balance, sole depth, etc.
Here’s an upcoming Facebook event for anyone interested and she’s asking for questions in advance too.
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I would be looking for signs of low grade laminitis and treating accordingly while using boots.
In my experience short striding in a groomed arena with appropriate footing is always inflammation. Boots help while you sort out the cause. Good luck!
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With low grade laminitis don t they usually point their feet in front of them liké in navicular diseas?
This was the first clue in realizing my horse had a food - lameness problem.
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Not necessarily. I have only had one case, and it presented very similarly to an abscess.
Pointing usually suggests heel pain - thrush, “navicular”, poor bulb development etc.
Short strided usually means they’re hesitant to bare full weight for some reason. Like us being barefoot on a rocky beach. In a soft, cushy arena with fluffy footing that isn’t packing in to the sole and causing pressure points… it’s something sneaky like laminitis or thin soles.
I’ve handled both successfully - laminitis was a diet change and the thin soles (my current horse) has been boots and glue on shoes. I’ve been trying to correct the thin soles for years and have basically just given in to the fact that he will need footwear anytime he’s in regular work.
My laminitis horse sent me down the rabbit hole of all things hooves and I trained to be a farrier because of her. So careful how much googling you do. 
My horse was short strided on soft ground and on hard he walked with mincing steps. I noticed it happened right after the barn got in some very nice looking alfalfa. Took him off it and within two days he was walking fine. Had the vet out, she checked for cushings, and dang. Diet change and meds.
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Oh yes, east coast alfalfa, death to the laminae, lol.
My mini is just getting over a bout because I asked for some second cut hay this year. It’s pretty rich. All he has to do is sniff it, unfortunately.
To add… my old mare couldn’t even have Timothy alfalfa hay cubes. One meal and she couldn’t walk. I had to source and buy the Timothy only bags.
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No.
Does your horse have a digital pulse?
No, not at all.
Don’t rule out the laminitis though. I never found pulses.
I’m not saying that is what it is, just worth exploring. It can be insidious.
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