Sunday, October 07, 2012

Maybe some of you have a lot more experience with horse shoes than I do.  I have virtually none.  Maybe you could tell me what you think about this scenario.

Bella had shoes put on a week ago, with pads that have a thicker area under the frog (extending downward from the pad when the hoof is on the ground) to keep some frog pressure rather than letting her frog dangle in the air once the shoes are put on.  It all sounded like a good idea to me.  BUT now she's landing toe first, which I really don't like to see.  It started out REALLY pronounced, but has become more subtle.

Bella already had a slight case of thrush when the shoes were put on.  I thought something should be put in under the pad to keep this from getting worse.  But he didn't, and he's the farrier, so...

Also, the frog pad is slightly thicker than the shoe, which seems like it would cause excessive pressure. 

Seems to me it has to be heel pain causing her to land toe first.  I'm not sure what else would cause that, unless her toes were too long, which they aren't.  Can you think of any other reason for a toe first landing?

He said on Wednesday to wait it out, see if it gets better, since she was just getting used to the shoes.  It seems like it has gotten better, but she's not landing heel first.  She is slightly less lame at the trot though.

What would you do? 

1 comment:

Snipe said...

You mentioned previously that the farrier had evaluated her, but not a vet. Has a vet seen her yet? The farrier has an obvious interest in special shoeing and much less training in diagnosing the causes of lameness.