Here we go again…

We had a great week last week – a terrific short dressage school on Monday followed by a nice long hack on Tuesday. Tris was happy, cooperative, and going really well.

I took Wednesday and Thursday off because work got busy, and then went out Friday, and, well.

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So. Yeah.

This happened last month, too, right after he got reshod. Pretty seriously gimpy in the RF, with mild warmth in that hoof around the coronet band. Last time, we gave him a few days off and some bute and he came around beautifully – he did a lesson like nothing had ever happened.

But now we’re back again, with that same stupid right front. I swear, that foot will be giving me anxiety attacks fifty years from now. He got a few days of bute, and then seemed quite a bit better, but not 100%.

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Twice is a verifiable pattern. I like and trust my farrier, and I feel confident that it’s not a shoeing issue – or at least not one borne out of negligence or lack of skill. It could be that something about the new angle isn’t working, or something else.

Thankfully, my vet is offering a killer deal on x-rays while horses are already drugged from teeth, so I’m taking her up on it.

The farrier pulled his front shoes today and looked over them with a fine toothed comb. It wasn’t a nail, and overall the farrier is really happy with the hoof balance and quality. The only anomaly was that he’s testing somewhat sensitive to the hoof testers in the frog area in that RF.

We’ll see. In between, he’s doing great, so I’d like to get this cycle stopped and not have to worry for a little while. Best case, we tweak his shoeing and he’s fine. Worst case, I have a niggling fear in the back of my brain about coffin injections – it’s been five years since his coffin bone surgery, and I worry about the longterm arthritic changes from that.