Hi All!
Sorry for the long post in advance. I have pictures at the end.
He gets shod every 5 weeks. Pics I have are at 4 weeks, 2 days. He is due to get re-shod next week.
2020/2021: Horse diagnosed with mild navicular. Osphos wedge shoes recommended. Both done, no issues. Lameness was rectified.
2022: Farrier recommended to remove wedge shoes (after discussing with vet) and he stayed sound.
Summer 2023: Horse mildly lame on circle (RF 1/5). We nerve block. When farrier is out we remove shoes and x-ray. We find there is further degeneration compared to 2021 and slight coffin joint spurring. Vet recommends horse back into wedge shoes and Osphos. All done, horse came sound again and felt great! We finished the season.
December 18 2023: Re-shod per usual. No notes from farrier. No lameness felt.
January 3rd 2023: He had lost a shoe (RF) and it was put back on this day.
January 5th 2024: Horse is lame on LF. Mild but worse than noted before (LF 2/5). It is very cold here and we weren’t sure if lameness was injury or not from doing something outside with the frozen groud being lumpy, etc. No swelling, no heat.
January 8th 2024: Vet came out. Confirmed LF lameness. Not reactive to hoof testers (never has been). Re-blocked him pastern down, then fetlock down with ~ 85% improvement. Re-x-rayed. No changes from summer 2023. Vet said could be time to do coffin joint injections (which we had been discussing for some time) or she said could possibly be collateral ligament injury - but this would be very difficult to say with certainty without MRI.
Jan 16th 2024: Injected coffin joints with hope that’s causing the lameness. Fluid in LF looks worse than RF. Vet recommends further 2 weeks off before re-evaluating lameness.
Jan 17th 2024: Body worker comes out (she’s monthly). Says he’s holding his shoulder in a very abnormal way. Has a huge muscle knot (which I had told her about before she came). Looks at his feet and say wtf! She says toe looks waaaay too long, heel too low, he’s standing toed in (which he does not typically) especially on LF, from the back the hooves don’t look like balanced (i.e. right and left side of hoof don’t appear to be putting pressure evenly). Also notes stress lines on his hooves. Trainer agrees and is concerned but said she didn’t want to step on toes as I use my own farrier.
I have been concerned with how his feet look for the last couple of shoeings but trust my vet and farrier and neither mentioned any concerns to me. When I look at the pictures I’m also like WTF but I don’t know jack about shoeing so could I be overreacting?!
I’ve been with my vet for YEARS.
I’ve been with this farrier since ~2019 and always felt he did good work. He’s also a nice person.
Old Farrier Opinion:
I contacted my old farrier (only don’t work with him because we moved too far from him sadly). He says my horses feet look bad and that he actually looks over due, not at 4wks. He said a navicular case should not look like this and is concerned my horse will not stay sound with the way his feet look and if they continue to look this way. I trust him very much.
Vet Opinion
I contacted my vet who had just seen him and she agrees the pictures don’t look good but she wonders if I should give my current farrier a second chance and she can tell him what to do. She works with him a lot and again she never said anything about the way his feet looked.
I’m very concerned about my horses comfort.
Sadly I’m also hearing this farriers work has been going downhill for several months and people are noticing. Maybe somethings going on in his life. Second to this there are some scheduling things with him that stress me out and affect my work but don’t think that’s super necessary to go into detail about. I just feel like this is all coming to a head and may be time to move on.
I’ve never switched or let go of a horse professional and I feel awful about this. Especially as I am no hoof expert.
My old farrier and trainer are recommending a specialist that comes to our barn. I’ve contacted him to chat but as it’s the weekend may not hear back until Monday.