I am not in a good mood today. Our farrier came out to trim feet, and it has been true that Cuesta has been sore, on and off, for awhile. We think that Cuesta has navicular. We bought her about 18 months ago, and she would vary with appearing sore and not when walking. (she is an 8 y/o.) The "owner" who had her before us, would keep her in a filthy stall, and had her shod though she probably did not need it; then she would let 6 months go by without removing the shoes or getting a trim; I know this from my farrier, who used to work on her. He says that this is a possible cause or contributing factor to how she is now, as her feet have been bad since that person owned her.
Here, she would appear fine for awhile (usually after a trim) and then revert back to acting sore. I thought it was a sore shoulder for a time, because she took a nasty fall while my other mare was chasing her in the pasture back in April 2007. But the last few weeks have not been good; Cuesta used to be the lead mare, but now out other mare has taken over, and I attribute some of this to Cuesta's shoulder. I am still turning them out, and Cuesta does no act like she is in enough pain to be sluggish in he pasture or lay down a lot; she is always up and grazing. (there is no founder or suspect founder, and she is used to being on grass.) She ges hay when brought-in for the night; grass hay.
I am calling the vet that my farrier works with to come out and x-ray Cuesta. Then we can finally get to the bottom of this. I am not currently riding her; have not in the past year or so because of time and also because I do NOT want to add to her soreness. I do take her for light in-hand walks around the house on the soft mowed lawn, and the pasture is neither bone-dry nor swampy. Her stall is concrete with generous straw bedding over shavings.
If she can never be ridden again, I don't care. I will never breed her again (her last breeding, for her '06 filly, was done while staying intermittently at my friend's farm, after being at the horrible place she was neglected at.)
Any thoughts on her future? I know that it depends on a) if she even does have navicular.. and b) how bad the degeneration could be and if or if not corrective shoeing helps. But I am in it for the long haul for her; I love this mare. my farrier said that most people who have navicular show up, just ship them to auction.
She is a pretty "typey" quarter horse type paint. She is actually a Doc bar granddaughter. I was told that these types of things have increased since now, people like to breed for smaller feet on QH types for better halter peformance.