Decently bruised hoof, anything I can do?

(If you don't want to read the novel just read the bold bit further down )

I have had Mitchell since december 8th 2010, so just about 5 weeks now, and my farrier came out around a week ago and shod Mitch for me, on the front only as the ground is very hard. (When I trialled him his hooves were a mess and he had 3 shoes on [yes 3 ] and one came off while I was trotting him, so we finished with 2).

Now while my farrier was trimming one front hoof, I think it was the right side I can't remember , he pointed out a bruise to me, which he cut out and told me that it was big enough to have been 2 joined together, and it had been there for some time. Once he had cut out as much as he could without cutting the hoof to short, he pointed out to me where it still was in the hoof, some of it was in the heel. He put the front shoes on for me and that was that. (I thank him very much for this as he was insanely busy that day and still turned up and did a very good job as usual)

I went to ride him a few days later (I let him get used to having shoes on properly first) Walking was fine, trotting was fine, no limp in either of them, but there was no way he was cantering, and for the few strides I coaxed him in to doing they were very choppy and obviously uncomfortable for him, so we stopped and just kept to a walk and the odd trot. The other thing is he wouldn't turn left for a while without a lot of convincing, but by the end of the ride he was fine.

Now what I really wanted to know is, do horses heal like humans and bruises just go away, or do they have to be cut out by the farrier? Or do they not go away?
I never noticed it and Mitch never played up until around 2 weeks ago, sure he had the whole testing water thing but not so much as refusing to canter or turn left, shaking his head etc, which lead me to believe he was sore hence why I got the farrier out in the first place.
My goal was to compete Mitch on 19th February at the local sports day on the flat and possibly over 70cm sj, but I won't be competing him at all if I can't get him completely sound before then, I'm not one of those people that takes pride in competing an unsound horse.

But if it is supposed to go away, and it doesn't within the next few weeks I will be getting the vet out.
What can I do with him in the meantime? He is only 7 so I don't want to leave him in the paddock any longer than I have to.

From the little knowledge I have of it. They go away with proper care. Did your farrier tell you anything about caring for it? He might be just adjusting to his new feet still as well. The shoeing will most likely help him though.

No he didn't say anything about care for it, he was pretty stressed out and sore though so i'll forgive him this time he's usually pretty good.
And he did comment about how it's good I atleast chose to buy a horse with decent hooves.

I got told by a friend this morning beach rides would be good for him, don't know quite why but i'm guessing it'll have something to do with the salt water.

My guess is if Mitch is not off at the trot it is not his feet bothering him. If he is reluctant to turn a certain way, canter & doing funny stuff with his head he may be out somewhere. Maybe a chiropractic adjustment is in order?

Most bruises absorb on their own & you never know they were there until the farrier finds them. Some turn into abcesses but that doesn't seem to be Mitch's case. If your farrier said they were old I wouldn't worry.
I hope his issues resolve easily & quickly.

hmmm that's a good point, I have been assuming his head tossing is partially due to the fact there are so many dang flies around here now, I asked mum if she could have a look while I trotted in a circle around her to see if he looked odd, he didn't feel it, and all she had to say was "stop I'm getting dizzy I don't know" -gee thanks mum.
I checked his back tonight and he never flinched or anything, he is alright on the lunge and fine with picking up his hooves etc, so I might have a look at getting his saddle re-fitted and finding a chiropractor (sorry mum your going to have to cough it up, i'll repay eventually).
His canter is naturally HUGE but I did notice he was off.
I went out tonight and picked out his hooves and he was a real gentleman. The bruise is on his right front which is the same leg he previously bowed a tendon, that doesn't seem to be bothering him though.

Just to add, I'm happy to say I've just reasearched and located the local chiropractor and emailed him, should hear back within 2 days hopefully :)
...There goes my 16th birthday present but to be completely honest I would rather mum spent my present money on fixing my horse rather than presents

Wow, you sure don't waste any time! If he was only funny on one ride you may want to try him again to see if he is still funny. Maybe he's OK without intervention & you could forego the chiro?
Happy Sweet 16

Haha nope, I would rather find the problem before it turns into something nasty (and knowing my luck it would!)
He was funny on two rides over 2 weeks which were the only two times I rode him, the second time I got off and lunged him to see if he looked lame but he wasn't limping at any of the gaits, he was however, shaking his head here there and everywhere when I asked for a canter, this happened on both sides but more so on the left side, he cantered better on the right, which is the side of his bruise. -It wasn't your typical "ouch hoof hurts" head bobbing, he was shaking it everywhere and twisting his head, but me being me I made him canter a few meters anyway just to see.
Is there any harm in getting a chiropractor out anyway? Around the time I noticed he was off he had a big fright in his paddock and was going mental (he only had a section of the paddock he was inside an electric tape and standards) I walked out half an hour later to check on him and oh hello here's Mitch standing at the other end of the paddock, but the tape was still up! I found skid marks on the inside of the sectioned piece and just to the other side there is a hole in the paddock, so is it possible he landed in the hole and tweaked his back? Hmmmmm.
(oh and the sectioned piece wasn't small by any means, it was big enough he could run around easily in it but he obviously wanted OUT! For whatever reason.)

Won't hurt him to be checked . It sounds like he did knock something out during his adventure.

Number one, is the foot properly balanced? As in... is your farrier trimming him properly?

Photos of the feet/foot in question would greatly help.

Durasole is a great thing for the barefoot horse.

Do not soak his feet as that will make them softer and in turn will make him more sore.

The bruises will go away. No riding or hard/rocky surfaces for a while and it would probably be beneficial to put some kind of boot on him, such as an easy boot.

As far as the not wanting to turn and head shaking, the first thing I would check is teeth. They can cause a lot of problems if not routinley taken care of. Next step would be, as suggested, a competant chiro. Beware of the ones that took a two day long course and call themselves chiros. Do your research. Don't let just anyone work on your horse.