Limping after a Trim

[oursarge]

I have a call into the Farrier but have to wait since he never answers his phone. I will see him later today at my friend's I hope but 'til then I have to ask someone. Is it normal for a horse to limp after getting a trim?

The farrier was here yesterday and my horse's feet were grown really weird so he had to trim quite a bit off of certain areas. He trimmed them up, they look nice and I thought all would be well. This a.m. when I went out he was limping and doesn't want to put his foot right down for long periods of time. He was fine yesterday after getting trimmed, I made sure when I walked him around. I feel so bad for him. We have alot of mud out there so it's possible he slipped and hurt himself. I don't feel anything hot or swollen but I'm not an expert at this. I don't see anything stuck in his foot.

Anyone ever have this happen? I hope the farrier is still at the stable when I get there. I don't know whether to give Rompy some Bute or just wait. If "Uncle Frank" [What we call our Farrier] doesn't know what is wrong then I will need the vet. He acted like it was really hurting to walk. He's eating fine. I'm really upset now I hate to think of him in any kind of pain. Thanks!

[vicklynn]

Ive only had had a horse limp, when the trim was to short, or the horse truly needed shoes.

[Dakota Sunrise]

One time that happened to Beauty... but the circumstances were a bit different. She had just gotten trimmed, and the next day I took her trail riding. We ended up getting lost and having to go over some pretty rough terrain, and since it was so rocky and she had been trimmed maybe a little too short, she ended up with a stone bruise:(.
It healed up after a couple days. Now when my farrier trims her he doesn't take quite so much off and I wear easyboots on her when we trail ride.

[JackieB]

It happens often enough, but is not normal. A horse should never limp after a trim. Buster's farrier used to do it to him regularly by cutting off live sole and I did it to him once myself when I started trimming, too.

You could take some pictures and post them here and Houston Farrier could probably help you diagnose the problem.

[oursarge]

I know he had to take alot off because it was grown so odd, it was all flared out in one area. Both front feet were like that. He's a Colonial Spanish horse and they are supposed to have tough feet, they are never shod. I don't know though, he seems to be pretty tender. Thank you, it could be a too short thing since his front feet were bad and what was weird is you couldn't tell how bad 'til you picked them up and it was like it all happened real fast, his feet didn't look bad then BAM they did. I called as soon as I saw them.

I hope it's the trim and not a sprain or something worse. My poor baby. Hopefully his "Uncle Frank" can check him out sooner than later. The mud is very bad and they are always running in it so he could have also slipped in that but I just thought it was weird since it happened the day after a trim. I've never had it happen before with my old horse or the 3 I have now. Of course I'd never seen feet grow so weird as his did this time.

Jackie B I wish I could get a picture but I'd need 4 hands, I'm the worst photographer, I'd need 2 hands to hold the camera and 2 to hold his foot up! It almost looks like he has a little piece out of it today that wasn't there yesterday so I don't know what happened, I am sure it was all smooth and shaped yesterday and now there is a little piece gone. I just worry about everything. One of the horses at the stable is only 4 and just had surgery for Navicular, some are arthritic so I just stress over things way too much. If we can't have him looked at today and he's still doing it tomorrow I'll have the vet out.

[vicklynn]

Ya, those horses that are suppose to be tough. I quit going by that since I bought Myst, my drafty footed mare, who needs shoes on her fronts to be comfortable.

[TLC97]

Why did his feet grow so odd??

[FrogInABlender]

He may have gotten too close to the quick with a nail too. Sometimes you can peck on each nail with a hammer and they'll flinch if you hit an ouchy one. Your farrier will be able to tell for sure since he's coming anyways. Good luck there!

[oursarge]

I don't know why his feet grew so odd, I never saw anything like it and I've had horses for 17 yrs now. It could be that we don't have a good area to wear his feet down and the mud here has been terrible. He does have areas where he can go to be out of the mud but unless he's in the barn he can't get from one area to the non muddy area without going through mud.

He doesn't have shoes on so it can't be a nail. When I got him she told me they never need shoes, she will put easy boots on her horse when she does endurance but if he needs shoes to be comfortable he'll have shoes. What ever it takes to make him stop hurting.

[cloedoll]

Maybe it was a bad trim? Too short? Could be a lot of things. I would have your farrier out again or maybe post pictures here? Lol. I'm not too sure, but will keep watching this thread. =)

[lisakaye]

Easter tends to get ouchy after new shoes but I have never seen her limp. Good luck.

[FrogInABlender]

..He doesn't have shoes on so it can't be a nail...

Sorry, I didn't catch that part. It's probably just a close trim then.

If you've got any boots you could put those on him for a while, but if not you could go to the hardware store and get a small stip of anti-fatigue mat, cut it to fit the bottom of each foot and duct-tape that on for a few days. I've done that before for my old laminitis-prone gelding.

It'll take lots of tape for it to stay on in all that mud though, and you don't want any of the tape wraps to go above the hairline or on the bulbs of the heels.

[oursarge]

Thanks everyone. My husband is out there now picking it out, sometimes he sees things I miss because I go into panic mode. I'm getting ready to head to the stable now and hopefully the farrier will be there and will have time to stop by and check him, he's also good with sprains etc. He seemed fine, I noticed one day when I noticed how odd his foot was growing he was a little tender but since then he's been fine 'til this a.m.

[Miracle Whip]

Mine are often ouchy for about a week. By that I mean they are tenderfooted on the gravel. They walk and run just fine in the pasture though. Consistent limping is not normal.

[prissy18]

Misty limped after a trim.Ended up have apses.Sorry i cant spell well.

[sarhound]

Two trims ago, Charlie wound up lame after a trim. He was a little hesitant coming out of the trailer when we got home from the farrier; by the next day, he was completely lame on his right front. (All my boys are barefoot.)

It took him almost a week to get back to normal. I saw no obvious injury. He didn't look like he had been trimmed too closely, but he had been having some problems with cracking hooves from all the rain last spring. Maybe it was a contributing factor.

His last trim was fine. He's due again next Friday; we'll see if he has a problem again. :popcorn:

[Remali]

It sounds like he got trimmed too short. That happened a couple times when I had Kara, and it only seemed to happen with one farrier, so I made sure that when I got another farrier I asked them to not trim her too short.

[medicine hat]

I had the same problem with a certain farrier. my horse didn't really show signs of soreness until the next day, either. so I talked with him about it & asked him not to trim ( mine is barefoot) so short. he was fine for a few trims, but it happened a couple more times, so i got a different farrier (trimmer), because I wasn't sure if it was the trim or if my horse had a problem. the new trimmer is so much better, even I can tell a difference in the shape, and my horse is 100 % sound after the trims~
he was probably just trimmed to short, with the funny shape & all. but I would talk to the farrier & keep an eye on it~

[oursarge]

I got to the stable late and didn't see the farrier, I had planned on calling him tonight to see if he could stop tomorrow but we had to rush our dog to the vet. We might be loosing him. My heart is being ripped out, I wrote about that in the other animal section. Our house is dead tonight without my baby here. I hope the vet can help him but he's very sick. We just don't know it is touch and go right now.

While there I asked the vet about the limping since Rompy seemed worse tonight. He said to give him some Bute since chances are it's from the trim but if he's not better in 2 days he'll come look at him. He was running and carrying on this afternoon but tonight he's off and doesn't want to put alot of weight on it. It's always something to worry about.

Thank you for all of your help, I appreciate it. Please think of my dog, I am so scared he'll be gone by morning.

[Cat]

There are a couple farriers around here that constantly cause horses to limp after trims - so much so that I've been told its NORMAL for horses to be sore for a few days after a trim. Bull! The trims I see tend to be too short in the toe w/ toe callous removed down to live soul and too long in the heals and always from the same 2 farriers. I suspect this happened to your horse - got him too short for what he is comfortable with and/or invaded the live soul.