sore soles

Question
Hi there, I have loaned 22 yr old fit and healthy 12 hands pony for my children to learn to ride on. Always been shod but had laminitis just before I got her(6 months ago)so no shoes. She is not good on hard ground ( last 3 months), looks like walking on hot coals but ok on grass. have had front shod 4 weeks ago, not much improvement. any ideas ? Jo

Answer
Hello Jo,
thanks for your question. Can you please let me know what the pony is eating at the moment and what he weight looks like? The problem with laminitic horses, especially ponies who are very prone to gaining weight and possibly ending up with chronic laminitis is that if their feed intake and weight is not carefully monitored, these horses can go in and out of bouts of lameness. Since she only recently went through laminitis, and depending on the severity of damage that happened inside her hooves, it is not surprising that she is lame on hard ground and ok on grass. Shoes will not help soundness due to concussion sensitivity (as it often happens) or on-going tearing of the hoof wall. On the contrary, sometimes shoes can make the situation worse. You should consult with your veterinarian and farrier and have them evaluate your pony to make sure it is rideable to the extent you want to at this time and whether she needs special hoof care. Since you are loaning her, I would also ask the owner whether X-rays were taken last time she had laminitis. I would also highly recommend that you talk to your vet about her food and weight to make sure you are controlling any possible chronic laminitis. At her age, this is quite possible.
So, to make a long answer short, a horse with recent laminitis may very well have additional issues you will have to consider that exceed what you can help with shoes or not. If you have time, there are some excellent articles on the web that explain what happens in laminitis and help you understand what is going on in her feet. One such site that I could recommend is: www.safergrass.org. On this website, there are also links to excellent laminits pages.

Please let me know whether this was helpful.
Sincerely,
Christine