My horse is flat footed and stumbles what do i do?

Question

What can I do to help my mare's feet? She has been barefoot her whole life, she's now 8. But I've always had problems with her stumbling when she walks on rocks or other hard surfaces. My grandpa is an old timey ferrier so what I know about hooves isn't as well anymore. I can keep her hoof wall trimmed back and neat to prevent slitting and cracking. But the soles of her feet and her frog, everything is even with the ground. But her hooves are very very hard, she lives in a dry grassy pasture and is on hoof suppliment because her feet used to be brittle and soft. I thought a hard sole was good but now she still stumbles to the point where she practically falls on rocks. I can't use a hoof knife to carve out some of the sole or frog a little to help her out but now i'm hearing i shouldn't use a knife. What do i do to help her not stumble? I only have the one horse and ferreriers are scarce in my area and don't want to drive out for one horse so i can only get her to a pro every few months. (please don't give me a lecture on how if i can't care for her i should get rid of her or move closer to a ferrier or i'm a bad owner or anything like that. i just need tips.)

Answer 1

So, is the problem that she only stumbles on rocky terrain?  And not any other place?  When she stumbles, does she react as if she is ouchy or just stumbling?  Stumbling can be tough to diagnose without seeing the horse but I'll venture a few suggestions for you.  A LOT of stumbling I see is because of an imbalanced trim.  A barefoot trim is totally and completely different from a trim that prepares a foot for a shoe.  Some people don't know this, they give everybody the same trim.  Also, stumbling can be related to the trim if the heels and toes are out of balance.  I see too many long toes, long heels that create lots of movement problems.  Another thing to look at is your horse's natural breakover point and is it well established for each foot.  If the breakover is not appropriate and the toes are too long, your horse will always be stumbling?  Stumbling can be a structural/skeletal problem because your horse has  muscle soreness or misalignment in the spine, shoulder areas.  Has your horse ever had a nerve block in the front legs?  I've seen this cause a permanent stumbling problem before because there is a loss of some proprioceptive information.    

Use deductive reasoning to find the cause?  When did it start?  Is it just on rocks?  She is good in the pasture?  Any type of injury (new or chronic) that you know of?  Evaluate the hoof trimming.  Is she balanced?  Is breakover correct? Are the toes and heels trimmed properly?  Is there a good mustang roll on the foot?  Is the stumbling periodic, all the time, or just on rocky terrain??    

You might want to try walking and trotting some gound poles to encourage her to pick up her feet.  Begin this slowly but it is a very good exercise and can improve balance.

If your horse is ouchy on rocks, put easyboot epics with a gator on her front feet and see if this helps.  But the way you describe her feet, I would not think this would be the problem.  It sounds more to me like a physical problem or a trimming problem.  Hope you get it worked out.  good luck.

Answer 2

its hard to give tips when you basicly covered the important part in your last comment  ... all i know to do is try to file her hoof down and buy her some rubber coverings for them since she is not getting  what she really needs  .  instead of using a knife you could use a spoon or something . those are safer . i always used an old spoon for my horses because i was afraid to accidently hurt them .   i really hope you figure something out , i know having horses are a wonderful thing and its easy to build a strong bond with them .   . i hope i was of some help

Answer 3

Stumbling can be a sign of many degenerative conditions including osteoarthritis, navicular, pedal ostitis and many others. I would get a vet to examine her.

As for her soles being level with the ground, it sounds like her heels have collapsed. Could you get a picture?

Answer 4

My older horse has the same problem. What I do is put easy boots on him. He is a trail horse so if we are going on the trails I slip the easy boots on his front hooves and problem solved. I really like them. I recommend them for any horse owner.

Answer 5

go to some website like barefoothorse.com and ironfreehoof.com and others like that, and get some natural trimming books.  with some education you can learn to do your horse correctly on your own.  the books and websites are only a start and you should try to find some time to travel with a barefoot trimmer and get one to come out every so often to check up on you until you get good at it.

she may be stumbling because she has some internal physical foot problems, like navicular, pedal osteitis, etc...you can have a vet out to check that... it may also just be do to poor trimming, with her toe being too long and her heel slung under... not all horses have a lot of sole concavity, it depends on the internal structures of the hoof.  draft horses especially rarely have much sole concavity... she may be tenderfooted because of the lack of sole concavity, or because she may have low/crushed heels  or a whole lot of other reasons...

there's a difference between a horse just going barefoot and a horse that is correctly barefoot trimmed.  pictures would really help...

Answer 6

Cowboy up.  Get another, better farrier to evaluate.

It could be as simple as lack of knowledge translated to DIY foot care.  I'm certain you don't want to hear how it might be your fault. Nobody does.  

Poor excuses are your fault. Nobody on here can diagnose foot problems they can't see.  Grasping for some more sinister illness just adds to the problems

Bottom line, guru, if you have to go out of your way to get a competant farrier, do it.  Before you cripple your mare.  Don't ride her till you get it done.  

My horses are on an eight week rotation with my farrier, a certified master farrier.  He put them right and he keeps them right. I don't have problems with them, lame and stumbling.  If I fail at basic foot care, how can I expect any credibility as a 'trainer'?

<<+>> stop hacking off her heels and frog

HPTS

Answer 7

my horse has the same problem and he just turned 8 back in march. Since your horse has been barefoot for all her life i would reccomend getting one of the easyboots ( i would recommend the easyboot epic) it works like a shoe but you can take it off when your are done riding or just leave it on all the time. I will be getting the easy boot epic for my horse soon but all the tests done and what i heard from friends is that the boot is really worth it.