He seems to drag his hoof slightly and sometimes stumbles?

QUESTION: 

Mark,

I am a new horse owner and have a question my paint horse is seven and on his left side he seems to drag his hoof slightly and sometimes stumbles is due to clumsiness or is there a underlying problem that I need to have checked or could it be that when the farrier came he had to leave one hoof slightly longer because of a broken hoof. It is 1/4 to 1/2 longer? Please help?

ANSWER: 

Hi Mary,

This is a question that I cannot answer without evaluating the horse. I would have to see him. If you have your vet and blacksmith meet together the next time he is due to be shod that would be the best way to evaluate him and come up with an answer. If he is stumbling, it could be for numerous reasons and it would be wrong for me to try to give you an answer. Work closely with your vet and shoer and let me know how it all turns out.

Thanks…

Mark