right front frog/heal/sole? sensitivity

Question
My mare is 6 years old.  She is a jumper at only 1.15m at this stage and only for 2013.  She was kept barefoot until middle of 2012 and had no problems.  As I was going to jump her I believed it was necessary to begin her with shoes.  After a few shoeings she showed soreness trotting to the right, especially on harder ground.  The Farrier adjusted the fit so it wasn't so snug and it seemed to assist.  Her right foot has a longer toe and lower heal than the left front.  It also seems that the frog is long and there is not much toe.  Farrier suggested a bar shoe to bring up the heal and she was lame the next day.  Took a week to get better with the regular shoe, but softer footing may have fooled me.  the next week I saw soreness again at the trot.  Farrier took shoe off and applied a packing with liniment etc and taped it on.  Next morning she could barely put wait on it let alone walk.  The worst yet.  I took it off this morning.  Farrier doesn't seem to know what to do.  She is a very athletic horse and could use some help to get her and keep her sound.  What would be causing the soreness?  Obviously she doesn't like pressure on her foot, but how do we fix it?  Her legs don't ever show heat or swelling, although there was puffiness this morning understandably. This problem foot is the one she always has forward while grazing and her movement is longer off the right.  I am worried if we don't fix the foot her shoulder and other muscles and joints will be effected. Any advise you can give would be appreciated.  Thank you. g

Answer
Hello G,

The first thing I would do is get your vet involved. It may be that there are internal hoof structures involved in the lameness. These can't be diagnosed by a farrier. It would seem to me that the long toe low heel would be a place to start. There are many remedies and the vet and farrier should talk to each other so they are on the same page. I can't really give you more advice than to get your vet involved. Once the vet has made a diagnosis I can tell you how I would proceed.

Paul