[stacieandtheboys]

I had Hanks shoes pulled 9 days ago. He has been fine, a little ouchy on rocks, but otherwise ok. Guess I should mention he has had shoes most of his life. I don't ride often and when I do we don't ride hard so I thought that I would pull his shoes and see how he did.

I went out day before yesterday and noticed he was holding his right back up and limping a little. It had rained and was muddy so I picked out his hooves to get any rocks or what not out.

Yesterday I notice his feltlock is slightly swollen...really hard to see but I felt it and it isn't hot or anything like that.

Is this because I pulled his shoes?

 

[Sketter]

It's probably not. It could be because of the mud, I have seen lots of issues with horses slipping a falling funny or even a couple of times I have seen them getting there legs stuck in mud and hurting themselves trying to pull there leg out.(I did not like the barn this happened at, it was rediculious how deep the mud was) Or it could be totally unrelated. Make sure to cold hose and if the swelling does not go down or gets worse I would get a vet to come look.

 

[stacieandtheboys]

Yeah that is what I am thinking. It was muddy, not used to being barefoot and tweeked it. Keeping an eye on him (easy to do he is in my backyard) and hosing and watching the swelling. I will call the vet if he stops putting weight on it at all or the swelling increases.

 

[PaintHorseMares]

It's very common to have sprains when the footing is bad. Cold hosing or ice packs are the best. If you can put him in a small paddock with good footing to limit movement for a few days, that will help a lot, too, and reduce the possibility of reinjury once it starts getting better. Sprains are usually the worst on the 2nd day and typically they are almost back to normal after 5 days. I don't worry about them unless they don't start to improve after the 3rd day.