EAY
Oct. 17, 2009, 12:16 PM
My son's 13.2h welsh-cross pony, aged somewhere between 15 and 18, has been sore in his left foot for the last week. He was a little sore last Saturday, but he responded well to 1/2 a bute and Sunday he was sound and participated in a hunter pace. He's on field board and was not worked Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday he was worse. Thursday the farrier looked at him (he was due anyway) and he is fairly confident that it is some type of bruising or perhaps an abscess, though he could not find one. He did find a bruise but the pony was not sensitive to the hoof tester in that area. He did though have a strongly positive response in other areas of the left sole.
The farrier decided to put on front shoes (the pony has been barefoot since we got him last December). Several ponies and horses at the barn where I board who usually go barefoot have recently needed shoes because of the summer we've had (a wet spring and early summer followed by a dry end-of-summer with lots of bugs). The farrier said that it's been one of the worst summers he's seen in terms of foot problems of all kinds.
I jogged the pony this morning and he's better though still a little sore. The farrier said it would take a few days to see an improvement given how sore he was.
The reason why I'm concerned about laminitis is that the pony had a mild case with his former owner, who says that it was due to her failure to muzzle him during a wet spring with particularly lush grass (the pony was in a seventy acre pasture). She also says it was a single episode during the 10+ years that she owned him.
The farrier was fairly confident, though not 100% certain, that it is not laminitis. He could not find a rapid pulse, though he felt some slight heat in the front hooves. The pony is not sensitive around the coronet band. The hair there is lying flat, and the pony was not sensitive to the hoof testers in the area in front of the frog. The most worrying signs though were that the farrier thought he saw some flicking of the toes at the walk and that while he was working on him the pony did not seem to want to bear weight on his good foot.
The pony has not had any recent changes to his diet or routine. The pasture he is on is quite degraded so he's not getting a whole lot of grass, though they are starting to eat more hay now. He was fairly underweight going into the spring and we've been feeding him three meals a day (two of 1.5 lbs Southern States pellets that the BO gets in bulk and one of .75 lbs BS Vintage Performance and .75 lbs Purina Ultium). He is finally at a good weight. The pony is ridden about four days a week, sometimes more if he has a show.
We have been concerned about Cushings because the pony was late to fully shed out this summer (though a lot of them at the barn were this year due to the crazy spring weather), and we had already planned with the vet to test him in December (her preferred time for these tests). He also appears to me to have excess fat over his eyes, though he doesn't have any other unusual fat deposits. I have also not observed any excessive drinking or urination.
I am thinking of getting the vet to move up the test if possible so that we not delay instituting any dietary changes or medications that the pony might need. After the farrier's visit I talked to the BO about switching the pony to senior feed as a preventative and his response was that is is not what they eat that matters but how much.
The farrier decided to put on front shoes (the pony has been barefoot since we got him last December). Several ponies and horses at the barn where I board who usually go barefoot have recently needed shoes because of the summer we've had (a wet spring and early summer followed by a dry end-of-summer with lots of bugs). The farrier said that it's been one of the worst summers he's seen in terms of foot problems of all kinds.
I jogged the pony this morning and he's better though still a little sore. The farrier said it would take a few days to see an improvement given how sore he was.
The reason why I'm concerned about laminitis is that the pony had a mild case with his former owner, who says that it was due to her failure to muzzle him during a wet spring with particularly lush grass (the pony was in a seventy acre pasture). She also says it was a single episode during the 10+ years that she owned him.
The farrier was fairly confident, though not 100% certain, that it is not laminitis. He could not find a rapid pulse, though he felt some slight heat in the front hooves. The pony is not sensitive around the coronet band. The hair there is lying flat, and the pony was not sensitive to the hoof testers in the area in front of the frog. The most worrying signs though were that the farrier thought he saw some flicking of the toes at the walk and that while he was working on him the pony did not seem to want to bear weight on his good foot.
The pony has not had any recent changes to his diet or routine. The pasture he is on is quite degraded so he's not getting a whole lot of grass, though they are starting to eat more hay now. He was fairly underweight going into the spring and we've been feeding him three meals a day (two of 1.5 lbs Southern States pellets that the BO gets in bulk and one of .75 lbs BS Vintage Performance and .75 lbs Purina Ultium). He is finally at a good weight. The pony is ridden about four days a week, sometimes more if he has a show.
We have been concerned about Cushings because the pony was late to fully shed out this summer (though a lot of them at the barn were this year due to the crazy spring weather), and we had already planned with the vet to test him in December (her preferred time for these tests). He also appears to me to have excess fat over his eyes, though he doesn't have any other unusual fat deposits. I have also not observed any excessive drinking or urination.
I am thinking of getting the vet to move up the test if possible so that we not delay instituting any dietary changes or medications that the pony might need. After the farrier's visit I talked to the BO about switching the pony to senior feed as a preventative and his response was that is is not what they eat that matters but how much.