When I purchased him I knew he had some
Arthritis in his fetlocks per xray. Expected at age 12. He also jumps well and usually those horses land hard and not uncommon for coffin joints to get sore. No “diagnosis” there except I assume Age appropriate arthritis. He’s 15. His coffin joints tend to carry a little fluid. He always tripped when I got him but I figured out he liked having his coffin joints done. I use pro stride so it’s not deleterious to the joints. And he gets better Every year in the way he goes.
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Because the lameness is bilateral the best view is from the side. A video of him lunging from the perspective of the lunger would be more useful. Preferably at the trot, both ways.
I would still say definitely ask for much more break over on the shoeing. It should help with his toe first landing, and if it’s laminitis related it won’t hurt that either. Some horses, even after the hoof pain is gone, will keep landing toe first until they unlearn the behavior, which the rocker effect helps with.
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Both “trips” he buckles FL so I’d block & xray
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We are on the books with the new vet in 3 weeks time! My trimmer will be out before that to get his glue ons off and get him a fresh trim. OSU is also an option on the table if we need to; keeping that for a nuclear option if needed.
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Echoing this–even though the tripping happens without shoes, the super far-forward breakover isn’t helping matters. You ideally want to be at about 50/50 around the center of rotation (roughly, the coffin joint) and these pics look closer to 70/30 or even 80/20. They probably looked a little bit better when first applied, but definitely not 50/50. Your trimmer can use a torch or heat fun to soften the front of the tabs to allow the shoe to be set back further. If you’re on FB, there’s some great tips on the Glue-On Composite Shoe Group!
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My Paint gelding had an occasional problem with tripping or stumbling. The farrier came one day with a pair of Avanti shoes to try. They solved the problem instantly.
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We use Avanti PLRs on my guy too. They are a great shoe. It’s labeled as natural balance but I like them better than the actual Natural Balance brand.
I’m not familiar with glue ons and if they can be set in a way that supports the hoof as well. I’m guessing yes based on recommendations for the current shoes to be set further back (agreed on that) but the Avantis may be worth talking to a farrier about. Not sure if your trimmer does regular shoes.
https://www.thehorseshoebarn.com/shop/steel-shoes/edss-nbs/avanti-plr
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Ask and you shall receive
Walk/Trot to the right:
https://youtube.com/shorts/khAtrkJDMy4?si=PLenjLfiV87bHKA3
Walk/Trot to the left:
https://youtube.com/shorts/2EoYkBYLgXo?si=eH0i8EkKR4C8eeup
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I’d get with a farrier that has more tools in the box than “barefoot or glue ons”. He may need actual shoes.
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He will get whatever he needs! If that is special shoes, special shoes it is.
On that note, just confirmed my trainers blacksmith is on the schedule for the week after Charlie sees the new vet. If the vet thinks shoes will help, we will be able to get that taken care of in pretty short order.
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His lameness is improved here. Look at his knees; he’s striding out much better than in the previous videos. He’s still landing a bit toe first, but no where near what he was before. I can see some sensitivity when he picks up the trot going left; his first few steps aren’t very sure of themselves. IMO he is a .5/5 RF, 1/5 LF.
I would still recommend he looses more weight. He’s definitely lost a LOT (yay!) but I still see some jiggle. I think you’re on it, so I won’t harp on it.
Since he appears more sound than before, I might suggest getting another around of glue ons set with the proper rocker effect. I actually love glue ons because they encourage hoof growth like nothing else. My gelding lived in them for 2 years, increased a full shoe size, grew sole for the first time in his life, and kept it that way 4 years later. I’ve heard similar stories from others. My gelding didn’t have laminitis problems, but growing sole for any horse that might is always a good thing. You could then go back to barefoot or shod.
Also, you can nail on some of the polymer shoes; I don’t remember the brands but there’s a few out there. I believe it provides a similar benefit as the glue ons; it’s the material of the shoe, not that glue is magical 
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Thank you so much @StormyDay this is tremendously helpful.
We’re moving in the right direction weight wise, slowly but surely
In May of 2023 he was taping at the 1001 mark. Locally, last years first cut hay was wrecking havoc with metabolic/laminitic horses due an early cut and very high sugar. My vet said they got clued in as more and more people started testing because their horses started having issues. We somehow dodged a full flare, but he was at a good weight to start. I started weighing hay bags back in Feb since he had shot back up.
On the glue ons; my preference would be to stick with those if they can work for him for all the reasons you mention. Does it make sense to keep him barefoot until he sees the vet on the 20th? That way the vet can see a more pronounced version potentially of whatever he’s got going on?
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I also found these, they are a little old and I didn’t take pics of the sole at the time, but this is how I’ve trimmed up to this point. I’m probably not aggressive enough with the breakover.
I’d ask the vet what they prefer. My gut would lean towards keep him in the shoes. My reasoning is that if you pull them, you risk just run of the mill, I’m barefoot now, foot soreness, and that might give false positives on blocking. If I can see the lameness as he is, I would certainly hope your vet can too. And who knows, maybe a different break over will help him so immensely that you won’t have to do any expensive treatments (at least, we could hope right 
)
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@StormyDay Would you mind just replying to long posts instead of quoting in full text, photos and videos, please? It’s making this thread difficult to read.
If you don’t already know, using the reply arrow on the bottom right of the post you want to reply to creates a link back to that post at the top right of your reply so anyone can check out the post. you’re responding to.
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@FjordBCRF It may not be relevant, but my senior horse is dragging his left front toe very slightly mid swing due to arthritis in his knee. When he wears Treks I hear it but it doesn’t affect his gait. When he’s wearing Scoot boots the toe catches, tripping him up. I think the thin soles that stick out well in front of the hoof and are open act like little shovels, digging into the ground rather than scuffing across the way the closed toe Treks do. I don’t use Scoots on him any more.
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I just called the clinic to see his preference; he’s out on call so he will have to get back to me.
In the meantime, I’m pulling everything I have together and started with a high level timeline. It certainly seems that the laminitic and most recent tripping events have correlated with his weight being higher (noted in purple). With this in mind, I think I AM going to do more ground driving and see how he is hitched; hopefully start driving him more when this heat wave passes vs riding to keep as much weight off his back as possible until we drop more weight.
It’s frustrating because every time we’ve seen the vet up to this point and even including now, he’s wishy washy on his weight and it’s being “expected” for his breed 
Even when I brought the tripping up.
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It’s so interesting how different vets can be. Mine would have scolded me, even if the breed tended to be chunky.
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So true! I watch those vet shows on TV and there is one set of vets whose horses are models for obesity.
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I know a lot of clients don’t always listen and are reluctant to make changes, but I am NOT one of them. Hopefully being hyper vigilant on the weight will mitigate or at least minimize any future flare ups. And hopefully will help the tripping.
@StormyDay (or anyone!) - if you happen to come across any photos of hooves in glue ons with a more pronounced breakover, could you link them? I have a vision in my brain but want to make sure I’m thinking the right thing.
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