This is a bit rantish...
Looks like I'm in the market for a new farrier.
My mare was a bit off last Friday (or Saturday?) at the trot. It wasn't very noticable. I went up to visit her again on Monday and it was a bit more consistant at the trot, but she was still walking even when we walked.
She needed her feet trimmed so I went ahead and jumped on board with the group that was getting their horses done today. She needed the trim and I wanted the farriers opinion.
I told the farrier what was going on and she said she was seeing a lot of abscesses (just today). She didn't want to see her move before the trim, so she trimmed her and then I lunged her.
She's now lamer. So much that she's gimping at the walk now. The farrier hoof tested her and she flinched a little but not drastically and she mentioned that she was a touch warmer on her coronet band on that foot. She said to wait and see if she becomes more tender on it, she could be brewing an abscess.
But who needs to wait? She's now lame at the walk. Not just off, but lame. I checked the trim job since I haven't seen the woman trim before (barn farrier) and it was awful. Just awful. So bad that I'm ashamed to post pictures of it. It looked like an amature hackjob and I can't believe I paid for it.
I'm so frustrated. Not only do I have to find a new farrier, but this farrier worsened her condition instead of helped her.
She told me that it will either go away in a few weeks or get worse (no, really?). If it gets worse, call her. But she didn't want to dig around searching for an abcsess when she didn't really know where it was since my mare didn't keel over when pressure tested.
She actually rasped her soles :-x But didn't use the rasp to round off the hoof. Her feet are chipping already. A friend of mine said that she could be abscessing in a spot where the hoof tester didn't reach, and the trim might have exposed some previously bruised hoof.
Either way, I have to now go up and fix her feet. I took a farrier class a couple years ago but feel as though I'm too rusty to do my own horse's feet now. I've never done anything as bad as that trim job though...its an eye sore. I seriously could not believe she actually charges money for something like that...and I'm usually VERY forgiving when it comes to things like that.
She told me to ride her because the more I ride her, the more pressure the abscess will build and the sooner it would pop. I had reservations about doing it but I tacked her up. I couldn't go through with it though. She was gimping and it just felt wrong.
Looks like the farrier search is now on -_- Sorry for the rant. I was just so excited about getting the farrier out to see her opinion on my mare's hoof and it wasn't just a let-down, it was a catastrophy.
I have some pictures of her feet before the trim but none after...I was too shocked and embarressed. I may take pictures after I clean the mess up though.
Looks like I'm in the market for a new farrier.
My mare was a bit off last Friday (or Saturday?) at the trot. It wasn't very noticable. I went up to visit her again on Monday and it was a bit more consistant at the trot, but she was still walking even when we walked.
She needed her feet trimmed so I went ahead and jumped on board with the group that was getting their horses done today. She needed the trim and I wanted the farriers opinion.
I told the farrier what was going on and she said she was seeing a lot of abscesses (just today). She didn't want to see her move before the trim, so she trimmed her and then I lunged her.
She's now lamer. So much that she's gimping at the walk now. The farrier hoof tested her and she flinched a little but not drastically and she mentioned that she was a touch warmer on her coronet band on that foot. She said to wait and see if she becomes more tender on it, she could be brewing an abscess.
But who needs to wait? She's now lame at the walk. Not just off, but lame. I checked the trim job since I haven't seen the woman trim before (barn farrier) and it was awful. Just awful. So bad that I'm ashamed to post pictures of it. It looked like an amature hackjob and I can't believe I paid for it.
I'm so frustrated. Not only do I have to find a new farrier, but this farrier worsened her condition instead of helped her.
She told me that it will either go away in a few weeks or get worse (no, really?). If it gets worse, call her. But she didn't want to dig around searching for an abcsess when she didn't really know where it was since my mare didn't keel over when pressure tested.
She actually rasped her soles :-x But didn't use the rasp to round off the hoof. Her feet are chipping already. A friend of mine said that she could be abscessing in a spot where the hoof tester didn't reach, and the trim might have exposed some previously bruised hoof.
Either way, I have to now go up and fix her feet. I took a farrier class a couple years ago but feel as though I'm too rusty to do my own horse's feet now. I've never done anything as bad as that trim job though...its an eye sore. I seriously could not believe she actually charges money for something like that...and I'm usually VERY forgiving when it comes to things like that.
She told me to ride her because the more I ride her, the more pressure the abscess will build and the sooner it would pop. I had reservations about doing it but I tacked her up. I couldn't go through with it though. She was gimping and it just felt wrong.
Looks like the farrier search is now on -_- Sorry for the rant. I was just so excited about getting the farrier out to see her opinion on my mare's hoof and it wasn't just a let-down, it was a catastrophy.
I have some pictures of her feet before the trim but none after...I was too shocked and embarressed. I may take pictures after I clean the mess up though.