27/09/2024
Relevant now!
Just a reminder its been a weird summer this year, we're still seeing a lot of cases of laminitis and subclinical laminitis warning signs such as;
⚠️ Pinkness / Redness or blood in the white line
⚠️ Stretched lamina
⚠️ Hoof soreness (or in "subclinical laminitis" this might only be after a fresh trim)
⚠️ Digital Pulse (a strong pulse you can feel through the pastern just above the hoof capsule)
The problem we often see is this not getting taken seriously due to being confused with "needing shoes" if barefoot, "needing different shoes" when shod, over-trimming, or poor trimming, so here are some tell-tale ways to tell the difference:
⚖️ Has the horse undergone a major change in hoof care? The first trim with a new farrier, a change in shoe type or hoof angle, or removing shoes on poor footed horses, might cause sensitivity. Letting your hoof care practitioner know allows for them to change the game plan for your horse.
⚖️ Is this a new or seasonal issue? If your horse goes fine after your hoof care appointments most of the time, except during a certain season or if this is a first time problem - consider what else might be at play. For e.g. many overweight horses will show the most issues at the end of spring, and this year has been a late, long spring! Some other horses such as those with cushings might show more issues during Autumn when their ACTH levels are highest. If you've been using the same farrier for 3, 4, or 5 years or more and you see your horse is getting pink and sore every summer but not the rest of the year.
⚖️ Diet - is your horse being fed a high grain or inflammatory diet, on high risk pasture, obese, metabolic, or had a a change in diet (including a change in paddock or being released from lock-up back on to grass)
⚖️ Any other events that could increase inflammation - has the horse been recently unwell such as a major injury or surgery, been medicated, or any other things that increase inflammation (e.g. going on a big trail ride barefoot when they're normally shod or booted is a common one that I see)
⚖️ Warnings from your farrier - has your farrier been telling you that your horses body weight, diet, trim cycle, etc is a risk factor, please don't ignore this information. Maybe your farrier has also suggested veterinary involvement or radiographs to work out what's going on especially if the length or severity of any soreness or the significant of any distortions are more extreme than we would normally expect for your horses circumstances.
When this might be a red flag for poor hoof care?
🔴 If your cycle length is over 6 weeks you might be getting stretching and inflammation due to the lever forces on the toe and/or your hoof care practitioner might be having to trim a lot of hoof off at a time to chase any distortions. It typically would be better to remove less hoof but more frequently. This issue may be occurring due to hoof care practitioners not showing up reliably or not pre-booking clients, OR it may be from clients trying to push their horses hoof care out.
🔴 If this happens over MULTIPLE visits, when not dealing with pathology (e.g. not fixing a neglect case, seedy toe, white line disease, pedal osteitis etc), no known metabolic risk factors, no warning from your hoof care pracitioner that they've spotted any issues, AND despite letting the hoof care practitioner know that the horse has previously been sore when last trimmed by that same practitioner.
Consider also if what is being asked of your horse is reasonable. I don't expect ANY horse that is kept on a soft surface 24/7 to be comfortable on chunky gravel for example. I don't expect any recently barefoot horse to go cantering on the road with no boots or shoes. I don't expect a horse such as a "rescue" who has not been ridden or not had his feet trimmed for 2 years to feel like a million bucks when you lunge him for an hour straight after his first hoof care appointment and then wonder why he's stiff as a board 2 days later.
This is where long-term relationships with hoof care practitioners becomes beneficial. It becomes easier to spot seasonal patterns as opposed to a difference in hoof care styles. And you have a person in your corner who knows what is normal (or usual) for YOUR horse. And who knows what they've been seeing in other horses within your area lately also.
(yes, there is waaaaay more I could mention but trying to keep it to the cliff-notes version!)
