The farrier came and two days later my horse is tripping

[Lunabear1988]

Not sure what to do here. My horse was shod on Tuesday, given Wednesday off, light lunge on Thursday and Friday during our ride was tripping like crazy.
I’m not sure whether I should look to the farrier or not. He was on a 5-week cycle. I know the farrier said he grew a lot and took a lot of toe off. He also said he was switching to a different shoe something slightly thicker and heavier as he thinks they wear better in the summer. I asked him about the tripping to see if he thought that that was related and he said no.

I wouldn’t say he’s obviously lame I know if you watch him closely I do wonder if I see something. Obviously the tripping is not normal and could be caused by many things. And I’m just wondering if I should insist/ plead that the farrier checks him or if I should go the chiropractic or vet route first. My first instinct is always the vet but I know a lot of people do chiropractic first.

My horse has never tripped before this. He did it probably at least eight times in a ride. I also had my trainer hop on and he was the same with her.

[Lunabear1988]

Also on Monday the trainer said he was funky and we think that he got kicked in his hamstring. There is a small knot there but nothing seemed too serious. His had a light week because of that. Maybe he tweaks something up front too I’m not sure but this is the first time I’m seeing him trip.

[chestnutmarebeware]

I’d immediately tell the farrier what’s going on and ask him to come back out and evaluate your horse in the next day or two. If he blows you off or says he can’t be there for two weeks, then I’d call the vet, and have a serious conversation with the farrier about customer service at your next appointment.

[sara78]

I had one once tripping a lot After farrier, hé had foot pain and because of that hé would not lift his shoulder AT trot and would trip a lot. Could it me maybe thé same thing?

[cayuse]

FWIW I’m thinking it’s the heavier shoes as I’ve been in this boat before. I had one mare that would fall all over herself unless she was barefoot or in aluminum, she couldn’t deal with anything more substantial. But seeing that he was funky monday and shod tuesday, it’s a conundrum. I’d probably call the vet see what they say and if everything is OK put him back in the old shoes.

[Lunabear1988]

I’m pretty sure it is unrelated as the kicked area seems resolved (and hind end) but it does make it a little tricky!

I have called my vet but of course it’s a holiday weekend. He was better today (but also on previcox) but I rode in a different arena with deeper footing. Still not 100%. Trainer thinks that he looks a little trimmed short on the left front. I see a higher heel on that foot for sure.

[Lunabear1988]

left foot

[Lunabear1988]

right foot

[Bluey]

I wonder what x-rays of the left foot would show.
It almost looks like it wants to be club footed, a flare in front developing on a straighter upper hoof angle ?

X-rays sure help when in doubt, good to catch stuff before it becomes very obvious, or ease your mind once knowing what is there.

Helps pictures when the leg column is vertical, not leaning either way.

[Lunabear1988]

We have X-rays from last year, from PPE. From what I was told, he had beautiful looking angles, no club like angles then.

But I agree it gets club like… My vet wasn’t happy with the heels in November, farrier made changes and she was happier. Now it seems we are back there again. Question is, is it farrier made or not.

[Lunabear1988]

I think he was shifting around out on this picture but I still think there is definitely a clear difference in the heels…

[Posting_Trot]

I think it would be interesting to compare pictures of the hooves from before (at PPE or so) and now. Of course it’d be great to have the before and now rads, but you might not want to spring for a new set of rads.

If the horse’s hooves and angles looked great when you got him, and if they don’t look great now, that could be an indictment of how the farrier has been trimming and shoeing.

I’d take the topic of how the horse is trimmed/shod up with your vet as one potential issue.

Good luck.

[shoer76]

@Lunabear1988

I think he was shifting around out on this picture but I still think there is definitely a clear difference in the heels…

Stand behind him and look at the scapulas. The one on the right will stick up more than on the left.

The deep flexor tendon / muscle go from the coffin bone all the way up the leg and attaches at the Humerus which is part of the shoulder joint. Any asymmetry in the shoulders will show as different heel heights in the feet.

X-rays on upright feet generally look nice. For whatever reason people don’t seem to like the look of an upright hoof capsule.

Good Luck with the tripping!

[Lunabear1988]

obviously not a great angle or photo but this is also the left foot and I think there’s obviously been a huge change in heel height in a year…

Hopefully after the holiday weekend my vet will get back to me. He’s not really lame so I don’t think it’s an emergency but I definitely want to get an opinion and perhaps some changes as soon as possible. This farrier is pretty expensive compared to most everyone else around here so if he’s not doing the job then I need to move on… If he was doing a great job then I’d suck it up and pay the money but I’m just not sure right now…

[Lunabear1988]

I have no say about the x-rays but my vet is married to a retired farrier and has a special interest in feet. At the time she overall loved the Cannon bone alignment anyways. But obviously something is going on right now.

[Lunabear1988]

This was the x-ray for that foot last year. At the time my vet was fairly happy with it. And then I had CSU, the local hospital review all his x-rays and they said nothing was remarkable. Probably about 4 or 5 minutes total have had their eyes on this. I bet you we will see something different if we xray now.

[shoer76]

Was that x-ray taken right after he was trimmed?

[Lunabear1988]

That was at the PPE last year. I want to say that it was the middle of the cycle but I can’t remember since he wasn’t on my books yet!

[SusanO]

Yes his heels look quite a bit different. I would be really curious what his alignment looks like now with his higher heels.

[IPEsq]

What’s his posture like now? Is he at all camped under because of those tall heels? If so, that can contribute to the tripping. He’s got a lot of foot for having had a trim where supposedly a lot was taken off.