Other Lame after barefoot trim

Hi there

I have my mare on a 5 week trimming schedule and up until now have had no problems. Have been with the same barefooter for over a year. With the last trim my mare was crippled right up for 3 days and was especially sore in her hinds. I took pictures and sent a video to my trimmer and she came back to take another look to figure out what went wrong and where but she was at a loss and had no explanation on why it happened.

I thought I'd post a few pictures here and see if any knowledgeable people on here might be able to help. Would appreciate any input very much. My mare's due for another trim soon and I don't want this to happen again.

Right front
Left front
Left hind
Right hind

Right front
Left front
Right hind
Left hind

Piper2, If your horse has been trimmed like that for a year, I have a couple of thoughts. My first thought is that your horse was trimmed too short. I'm surprised that she was only sore for 3 days. Also, your horse is walking on it's sole. The sole is not designed to be the primary weight bearing structure of the foot. Start with hoof testers and a competent farrier, to check for soreness in the foot. If the horse reacts to the hoof testers on the sole, I think you should put shoes and pads on your horse. Also, maybe that "barefoot trimming" has finally caught up with your horse and has damaged her feet. I would suggest that you have X-rays of the feet taken to see if there is any damage to the coffin bone, although if there was, your horse would likely be sore for more than just 3 days.

Regards

Thank you for your comments. Rick, my mare is sound walking on gravel so I'm hoping that's a good indication no serious damage has been done to her feet thus far. I've posted on another forum and others are seeing things your way also. People are saying too much hoof wall has been taken and the mustang roll is way too aggressive on her feet. I' contemplating on switching back to a farrier now. This episode has scared me a lot.

The pain was very severe in her hinds. The night of her trim she continuously shifted weight on them when on cement. She could hardly walk the day after the trim but got better and better each day. I read back my text conversation just now I had with my trimmer and it was 6 days before pain was hardly noticeable, not three, like I initially posted. The pain was very intense for the first three days but it didn't get better over night. When walking on soft ground she did much better right from the beginning, though.

Keep the comments coming. Really appreciate your help and opinions.

It appears that the trimmer removed most of the thickness of the hoof wall by trimming the hoof from the top instead of the bottom. It makes me cringe when I see this kind of work because I realize that people actually pay these charlatans to work on their horses.

Yes David, I'm sure they will disagree. It's only fair, because I disagree with most of what they preach.

Piper2, I might be inclined to put off the next trim for a couple of weeks, in order for your horses hooves to grow some mass.

Regards

Leave that poor horse alone for 4 to 6 weeks. There is not enough foot there to even put a shoe on. The hoof wall has been removed to aggressively.
I have seen this before where a barefoot trimmer - trimmed so much the horse could not walk on the pasture, it spent most of the time laying down for a few days. Another time an outfitter thought he would save me sometime shoeing his horses so he brought in a barefoot trimmer before I got there and in the end I could not put shoes on five horses due to the famous Mustang Roll. I have had many people ask me why wild horses live without being trimmed. Well there are some reasons I can think of. They run on natural ground to them, if their feet get a little tender they get off rocky ground for softer, grassier ground, they self trim. They are not being rode which changes the whole weight distribution on a horses foot and the terrain they walk on. The last thought on this is that the ones with bad feet, conformation etc. well the coyotes and wolves have to eat to, right? There will probably be a lot of people who disagree with my thoughts and comments but that is why we have this forum.
Rob Johnson

^ I will most certainly will. I appreciate all the comments I'm getting very much.

Tom is absolutely right. Such a man trimming reduces the footprint of the hoof wall and sole receives an additional burden. As a result, the horse is lame. I have met such a trimming here in Russia as well.