I purchased an OTTB in March. I was at work when my husband met with the farrier and had her shoes pulled, without my consent. So then I decided to try the barefoot trims since the shoes were already pulled. I started to use a highly recommended Barefoot trimmer this happens to be her 4th Barefoot trim and she is super sore! I have never seen her this painful. She was sore after the last trim, as the hoof started to grow she started to get more comfortable. I was at work so the other boarders were there when she came for her next trim. I got back after work and she did not want to leave the stall, pick up her feet, and was limping even on grass! Is this barefoot trimming supposed to be this painful? Her hooves look horrible since transitioning her to barefoot in my opinion. I can’t fix it right now because her hooves are too short to shoe her now. Is this trimmer doing the right thing or am I over reacting?
One view I am trying to upload more it says the files are too large
I’ll try and get better pictures, but to me they look uneven.
Holy hell. That is a sin. Fire the damn trimmer. Do whatever you have to do to get the horse comfortable. If you decide you want to pursue barefoot in the future (I can’t blame you if you don’t want to), find someone else!!!
Signed,
A crazy barefooter who hates it when quack butchers ruin the good name for the rest of us
:eek: I’m hoping different pics will show that far hoof isn’t at such a steep angle as it appears to be. Because not only are they not even (in the posted pic), but that is the steepest angle I’ve ever seen (the only hoof I’ve ever seen like that was a TB in college that had a club foot). The hoof in the foreground doesn’t look as bad.
Sometimes there is a good reason a horse is in shoes, sometimes they don;t really need them. Please get a second opinion from another farrier… sooner rather than later! There are glue-on and other options to make the horse comfortable as the feet grown out sufficiently to trim properly.
I will take more pictures from different angles to get a better view when I get to the barn later. Here is her before picture. I might try the glue ons or boots for now to help her feel better.
Was she sore after your husband had her shoes pulled? If she wasn’t sore prior to the first trim by the barefoot trimmer she may be fine barefoot provided you use a different farrier/trimmer. But no matter what, find someone else to do your horse’s feet!
A friend had a barefoot horse who was a bit gimpy for 2-3 days after each trim. My friend had a different farrier look at her and he said that he couldn’t help without putting shoes on. I recommended a different farrier who managed to do a barefoot trim without making the horse sore at all, after the consistent post trim soreness had been explained. It just didn’t make sense that the horse who was perfectly sound for the other 95% of the trim cycle needed shoes.
Moral of the story is that you need to let the farrier know about any specific issues that came up after the previous trim (regardless of whether the horse was left bare or shod) like soreness, stumbling, tripping, forging, or other altered movement. Armed with that knowledge the farrier can try an altered trim to prevent the issue. If the farrier refuses to make any changes then you get someone else. Do your best to be there yourself to pass on the history and ask any questions for at least the first couple of trims.
Consider getting some boots and possibly pads to give her some relief for now. 
Wow… Those are normal good feet (before picture)…
What a change from that - after - photo in post #2…
This idiot of butcher trimmer is actively ruining your horse’s feet… It took as few as 4 trims to get there… Don’t let this continue please.
Get a vet out quickly, take radios and ask for a REAL certified and recommended farrier to assess, with the vet, the situation and what to do next.
I would be utterly pissed. Actually, BTDT and I fired a farrier in no uncertain terms.
Don’t let that idiotic trimmer close to your horse ever again. Even if s/he wants to see/fix the disaster s/he created.
That is awful! Boots with pads may help to make your horse more comfortable while you are waiting for regrowth. Please don’t let that trimmer near your horse again under any circumstances. That is a straight up butcher job.
She was not lame the first time her shoes were pulled she just started cracking a little bit(that was a different farrier). The first time this barefoot trimmer trimmed her she seemed ok. The second time she was sore for a little less than a week and did not want to use one of her back legs. This is the third trim I have had from this trimmer and it looks like she took off more than the previous times and to me they look like they all have different angles. She is by far the most sore I have ever seen her. I emailed her and she said it was because the lack of hoof growth and that she only rasped her(I wasn’t there but her hooves seemed longer before the trim). She had some bruising on her hoof day two after this trim and I added the hoof cushion. She is still limping though. I would of thought before touching the hoof if she wasnt ready to be messed with she would have recommended not trimming her yet and just let her grow move. I was just trying to go with her recommendations.
I will definitely not have her trim my horses feet again.
Seriously, have the vet involved.
Such pain caused by too short feet can lead to serious long term damage. Better pay a phone call and some xrays than risk to pay a lot more later.
“Just rasped” means nothing - you can go too short with a rasp or nippers.
How long between the trims?
I’d probably give your vet a call for pain relief and a recommendation as to how to manage the too short trim. And I’d get some better pictures so you can show them to your vet (so he won’t recommend this trimmer to anyone).
I can definitely get the vet out Monday. That is true since it has been months of these trims it could be creating other issues.
Normally 4 weeks between trims, she does four other horses in the barn. This one was on the 3rd week due to her scheduling.
A GOOD farrier would have noted that the hooves were not ready for a regular trim (rasp or nippers), instead of trimming them anyway just to charge you their fee. Poor horse.
Holy crap. No. If the angle I’m seeing in the first pic isn’t a distortion from the pic resolution, I could do better than that myself. And I ain’t no farrier.
The reason for foot soreness from a barefoot trim most of the time is from having too much tissue pared away at once. Put on a pair of cheap flip flops and walk on a gravel driveway. You definitely have to be cautious not to get stabbed by rocks. I imagine that’s pretty much how the horse feel suddenly going from shoes to shoeless.
Make sure to give the name of the “barefoot trimmer” to your vet so he/she knows who is responsible for doing this to your horse.
Be following this thread with interest.
Have no specific answers and certainly no hoof guru. What I do know is feet should match in size, shape and angle and trimming one at 3 weeks because it’s convenient for farrier is…well… between the 3 week interval and feet that look like they belong on two different horses? Speechless.
Vet is a good idea here. If that right front angle really looks like this, might be a club or something going on inside a simple, not that expensive x ray can identify.
Had horses sine 1970. Barefoot and shod, None ever sore after shoeing//trimming unless something was wrong.
You don’t have to use a " barefoot trimmer" to get a good trim. Find a good farrier who does both and who comes highly recommended from someone you trust.
