Overgrown soles?

[jenny]

Hi,

I am looking at purchasing a horse. She is a 7 year old QH mare. I had a vet check done yesterday and he said that her front feet had overgrown soles and would need some farrier work. She is not currently lame but the owners said her feet seem to be sore on gravel and hard surfaces. My question is, can anybody tell me if this is something that is going to cost me a lot of money over time to take care of? Or can it be fixed with some trimming work?

Thanks

[SMEDLEY]

This is a problem that many horse owners face, myself also. I wouldn't say that treating a horse with sensitive feet is expensive, it really depends on what kind of surface you are going to be riding on. If you are going to be riding on hard/gravel surface I would suggest that your farrier put pads along with shoes on, but if you are just going to be riding in an arena or grass..shoes may not be necessary. Usually for pads and shoes and a trim every 6-8 weeks it costs me about 65-80 dollars, which isn't bad at all. If your horse has overgrown soles I wouldn't put anything on her feet until a couple corrective trims have been done. But I wouldn't let sensitive feet discourage you from purchasing this horse, if it is indeed a good horse, there are much worse problems out there, sensitive feet are very common and easy to treat.