Have a horse on prepurchase trial. X-rays we got on his fronts show some mild inflammatory stuff in his coffin bone area. We have been watching for signs of discomfort from this. Due to all the wet here lately, and the awful flies, his hooves have gotten pretty flimsy and all the stomping was really tearing them up. The farrier trimmed the majority of the broken edges down, and we used him in a jumping lesson that very night. No indications of pain. The next day, however, he was quite sore on his front feet. Trainer believes he was trimmed short. Would that not have manifested in more immediate discomfort? I was concerned it could be the arthritis acting up, but it really does appear to be more a hoof tenderness issue. he seems bothered by having his hooves picked. I don’t know. If we shoed or booted him, would one expect the pain to be alleviated immediately? If so that might be one way to differentiate. Thoughts?
Not unusual to have a horse display 24 - 48hrs after a bad trim, depending upon conditions.
Poultice this horse’s feet for a few days, stop riding him, give him lo dose bute or banamine (if you’re comfortable doing and know appropriate dosage, based upon weight).
Boots or shoes could alleviate pain or exacerbate it depending on how closely he was cut and what else is going on.
See a vet.
Talk to his owner before you do anything. Yes, it is likely that if he was just trimmed that is what the issue is.
It depends on how badly “overtrimmed” the hooves were. I’ve had one who was cut so short he couldn’t walk out of the barn aisle back to his barn. Immediate pain. Other times it won’t start til the next day of 2 days later. However working or riding them w/ overtrimmed hooves will bring on pain and inflammation quicker. Don’t dismiss this as it can become a problem.
[QUOTE=Marla 100;8197732]
However working or riding them w/ overtrimmed hooves will bring on pain and inflammation quicker. Don’t dismiss this as it can become a problem.[/QUOTE]
Please elaborate, what kind of concerns should I be watching for?
So far we’ve got him on stall rest. His owners are aware and have agreed to let me have another couple of weeks to evaluate him. We started bute to keep him comfortable. Will hold off on his followup vet visit most likely, since he’s started bute and I have more time.
Thanks for the advice and responses 
I wouldn’t do stall rest for foot soreness. Turn him out as usual, but don’t do more than walking u/s for a day or two and if it doesn’t resolve within 5 days, I’d be suspecting something a little more. Bute the first day or two only, minimal dose.
I’ve always made it a practice not to ride my horses on the same day they are shod or trimmed, to avoid this very scenario.
You said radiographs already showed some inflammation of P3, and then he was trimmed a little short, left barefoot and jumped. That is a recipe for foot pain.
As suggested, light or little work, perhaps shoeing if you have a capable farrier, and pray you have not gotten enough bruising to cause an abscess.
May not be literally “too short” but more a result of cleaning up all the broken edges. When they do a lot of work like that, it’s better not to work them hard, certainly not jump just a few hours later.
I wouldn’t rule out the iffy XRays and blow this off as “just a short trim” here either.
[QUOTE=findeight;8198166]
May not be literally “too short” but more a result of cleaning up all the broken edges. When they do a lot of work like that, it’s better not to work them hard, certainly not jump just a few hours later.
I wouldn’t rule out the iffy XRays and blow this off as “just a short trim” here either.[/QUOTE]
That’s why I asked for the additional two weeks. Hope it’s enough. The horse seemed to have some conformational issues with upright hooves. ( forgive me if I accidentally mix up terminology…this will be our first horse and I am being forced to learn anatomy at an alarming rate).
We made the greenie mistake of getting his hooves looked at by the farrier the day before his PPE took place, so the resultant X-rays were reflective of his new trim. He has what the vet refers to as broke back axis and also the aforementioned signs of inflammation. My conclusion was that poor conformation contributed the the inflammation and therefore, if he’s currently sound doing his intended use, perhaps we can correct the angles with trimming or shoes, relieve the pressures and have a useful career as a first horse hunter up to 3ft or so.
The trims themselves are causing soreness and impeding our attempts to evaluate any pain the arthritis may be causing.
A broke back axis means that the foot was not initially trimmed properly for his conformation. There should be a continuation of the angle of the pastern to the ground in front.
As a first horse purchaser, it sounds from here as though you are in over your head.
You need help from some one who has been in horses for a long time. If you already have help, get some other help.
I think you can help the horse be more comfortable with a “broke back axis” but don’t think it can be “fixed”. That goes double if it’s conformation related, sometimes those get worse when you try to “fix” things.
This board is a wonderful place to come for information and advice keeping in mind it is the Internet…still wish there was something like this when I Started, would have saved some expensive mistakes and lessons I really did not need to learn the way I did.
With that in mind, don’t let your trainer push you into this horse if you don’t understand what’s wrong or you have a gut feeling it’s a bad idea. They may have a commission coming if you buy the horse and they are in business to earn money, not necessarily be your BFF with your best interests at heart.
I question their judgement using the horse for a jumping lesson with those x rays right after a major trimming and cleaning up the hoof session. Although you can work with that problem to some extent, I don’t know about buying a horse fir jumping that already has it. I hate that kind of thing and can think of many other problems Id rather work with then feet-no hoof, no horse is not an idle remark.
Be careful and always be aware of other options.
ETA this horse may be more comfortable in shoes, possibly with wedge or pads to deal with his issues, that will cost and need to be kept up on a regular schedule. I don’t know if that would be a concern or not but you need to ask and be aware.
This just sounds like a recipe for disaster for humans and horse. Send. Him. Back. Now.
If it was my horse I would have taken him back. Sore footed, trimmed short, then jumped?
If I owned the horse, I would not jump him with inflamed P3. I would figure, also, that he will never be a jumping candidate. I would never ride a horse with upright hooves and wrong angles, period. I would want to know if his hooves were upright because of conformation or poor trim. If its conformation, he might not do well corrected.
And lastly, I would never, ever ride a horse with the above issues without shoes. I would never let him go barefoot. And, with a short trim? And, possibly sore? I don’t know what else you could do to a horse to make him more uncomfortable, but no shoes, wrong angles, short trim, sore from being ridden with a short trim, and possibly bruised, and inflamed bursa? I wouldn’t ride a horse with one of those problems, much less jump him with all of them.
You really don’t know enough to be evaluating a horse for sale, and whoever you have ‘helping’ you is either ignorant as well or pushing a sore prospect on you for their own agenda.
You need to send the horse back. Its hard enough to keep a horse sound and working well when he starts out with clean legs. If you start out with these kinds of problems, and near-navicular, you can only go downhill from here.
Good luck.
These last few poster have had some tough to take comments, but I will go on record saying that each and every one of them is accurate.
If you have a trainer helping you, I would doubt their credentials. Taking the horse with questionable Xrays, and jumping him immediately after a drastic trim, all speak of a lack of common sense and a background knowledgeable enough to avoid such a situation.
Send him back and leave it to the owners to make him sound. It is not your job to diagnose or fix their horse’s unsoundness. Now if you made him lame, it might be a trickier spot to be in.
Overall though, it could just well be his soles are soft because of all the wet, and he bruised his soles after the trim. Has anyone put hoof testers on him (before and/or after the trim)?
Yes. They maybe reluctant to come out of their stall on to a hard surface. Walk like they are foundering. “Dive” for the turf to get off the pavement. Depending on things it can take more than a week before they are comfortable walking on a hard surface again.
BTW, the reasonable and customary thing to do when a horse you have on trial comes up unuseable is to return it to the owner. Even if it’s in the same barn, the trial is over and that lame horse is out of your wallet and back on the owners dime. Period.
Its bad enough when you pay for your own unuseable horse, no way you should pay to feed and keep a lame horse you have on trial. No honest seller or trainer would expect it any other way and that’s pretty much across the board in all disciplines. It’s up to the owner to fix it then remarket the hirse,
Oh, I bet you had to pay the farrier for what sounds like a sadly overdue trim job? Right? So you could try him? Owner should be responsible for presenting a rideable horse for trial, not something that you have to pay to fix to even ride. Very old trick there if you did pay for it.
What’s customary when a horse goes out on trial and comes up sore due to management?
[QUOTE=Marla 100;8197732]
It depends on how badly “overtrimmed” the hooves were. I’ve had one who was cut so short he couldn’t walk out of the barn aisle back to his barn. Immediate pain. Other times it won’t start til the next day of 2 days later. However working or riding them w/ overtrimmed hooves will bring on pain and inflammation quicker. Don’t dismiss this as it can become a problem.[/QUOTE]
Yes. This. I had one trimmed so short (15 years ago or so with a farrier I let go for this an other reasons) that she foundered. Nothing to fool with.
Poulticing and getting them off of any hard ground for a bit (and for goodness sake, not riding or working them) is in order.
