Beckie Mabbutt

I had shod a new horse 3-4 times and each time he was lame on both fronts as a result of shoeing! We had a vet look at him, who confirmed that the feet were balanced and well shod, I wasn't trimming too much off, and I can't be going too close with a nail on both fronts every time. I'm not that consistent!!

We tried pads for extra support, but each time after the initial lameness he would come sound 4-5 days after.

I was very lucky, most clients would have just changed farrier, because every time I touched him he went lame. It must be me. But fortunately we got some radiographs taken to see if anything else was going on, and this is what we found.

Right Front

Left Front

Look at the angle of the fetlock joint in comparison to the lower joints. No wonder when I shoe him he's sore, any adjustment I make just knocks him off kilter and he takes a few days to adjust.

This is a great example of how you can't always tell from the outside exactly what your up against!

So knowing this I suspect it's predominantly the ligaments either side of each joint that is sore when I adjust the feet. So my aim now is to accommodate for the conformation that he has as I'm not going to change it.

By beveling off and aluminium Lever Reduction shoe on the outside, although not 100% sound after shoeing we had him completly sound on a lunge within 12 hours! We can work with that.

I'd like to really thank Caroline and Gemma Briance for believing in me and looking into this further, it really is appreciated.