Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

Unfortunately, I saw a pretty clear decline fairly quickly this week while waiting for the farrier appointment that was planned for today (Friday). I didn't want to work him this week just because knowing that he wasn't moving correctly (tending to go toe first instead of flat or heel first) bothered me a lot. All I did was walk him and trot him some in hand. Last night I was curious how he was trotting because I thought I was seeing some discomfort in his other movements on uneven ground and turning around. I lunged him at the walk and trot and oh man was he shuffle-y - it's like we were back to square one and he didn't want to pick up his feet at all! *sob* :'(

I could not WAIT until this morning to get the bar shoes back on. He definitely prefers them right now. He wasn't PERFECT tonight, but he felt nice under saddle walking and trotting. I tried a canter to the left and he did try for me, but it didn't feel quite right so I asked him to trot again and left it at that. I watched him walk and trot from the ground once he was warmed up and it was considerably better than last night. There were not puffs of dirt with every stride, just occasionally. He was definitely moving out more and picking up his feet more. I suppose it's not a miracle fix, and it'll probably take a couple or maybe a few days for his soreness to cool off just like it did to develop with the other shoes. Tonight, he got tucked in with his favorite fruit flavored treats and some packing of magic cushion to help relieve any discomfort he might still have.

Just some details that I want to remember if helpful later on: the farrier mentioned that his right front hoof seemed to be growing more than the left. He had to trim that one a bit more than the other. The heel of the right hoof had grown down more, which from what he explained might be because he was avoiding using that heel. I thought that was interesting since it seemed to be his left front giving him the most trouble and landing heaviest on the toe. But from all this I know that not everything is as it seems - a lot of times the answers are the opposite of what the obvious is.