share club foot success/failure stories.
Many horses have some kind of club foot situation. It usually doesn’t cause much in the way of issues if you trim correctly.
In my experience most club feet can be successfully “managed” even if not completely eliminated. A lot depends on how they “acquired” the clubby
stance. Some are farrier/trimmer induced by not keeping the hoof in balance, some are caused by the “grazing hoof” where a young horse or foal always
stretches one particular hoof out front, and some are caused by inadequate
trimming/maintenance on young horses. Also some are acquired during intense growth periods of young horses/foals.
Also to be considered is how long the hoof has been clubby without correction
or management.
Do you have a specific case you would like to discuss?
I had one with a pretty noticeable clubbed foot. He was 5 when I bought him and it seemed to be his normal. He showed 3’6-4’ for years. Not sure if he’s still around but if so he’d be about 17 years old.
How about one that Evented, and then switched to dressage, as far as Third Level, barefoot.
I have one. Mare has a fairly significant club foot. We managed it properly and she had no issues and was a successful 3’3/3’6 hunter. I leased her out of state for a year and her feet were not managed properly and it became a big problem. I have her back and have fixed the feet and she’s now completely sound again.
If you are going to change a club foot it can only be done while they are still young.
I bought a 16.2h, 3 yo, tb gelding as I thought he was younger than he was and that he still had foals’ hooves.
Alas no. Most horses have one club foot so it is esy to see against the other hoof. This little fellow actually had 2 club feet, which were not attended to as a baby as he was bred by an owner for racing, the owner became too old and gave him to his neighbour.
His neighbour was a 3 day Eventer and broke him in correctly.
I bought him and he just found dressage so easy.
Sigh it is only the good who die young. He got an abscess and was on 3 legs. My neighbour who is a farrier came and looked. He said the abscess was healing but not the problem as it was a grade 2. The other hoof was grade 3. He was too old to do anything about it and as he grew and got bigger with work and aging he would break down on me in 10 months time. In that time he would have abscess after abscess as the shape of the hoof meant he only had a 3mm sole and they should have 15 mm of sole.
We put him down so as he did not have to suffer.
Club, or just a bit upright? There’s actually a formal definition of what makes a club foot, which is that properly trimmed, the toe is > 60* relative to the ground. Some use it to mean a foot that is at least 3-5* greater than the other foot (again, assuming a proper trim). Then there are different degrees of clubiness.
Suzie:
Most horses don’t have a club foot. That’s where the proper definition comes in. Most horses DO have slightly mismatched feet, with one being a bit more upright (as opposed to one being a bit lower).
Grade 1 is pretty mild and is not the cause of 3mm soles. Neither is Grade 2. A lot of that situation doesn’t make sense. It’s true that the more severe the club, the thinner the sole is likely to be, which is a main reason shoes (with pads) are often necessary.
It was very unfair (and illegal if he was diagnosing thin soles) for your farrier - who is not a vet and had no xrays - to tell you that he would break down inside of 10 months. That’s just silly. There are any number of Grade 1 and even some Grade 2 horses out there competing at high levels with proper management. I hope you did not put that horse down just based on what you said he said.
I know 2 horses with a clubfoot. One competed as a dressagehorse until she was 16 and one was a polohorse until she was 19. Both were pretty sucessful.
I think it was actually grade 2 and grade 3. I will edit my post.
He is very experienced and the farrier the vets go to.
He dug into the hoof with the abscess so he could see how much sole was there.
The vet scoffed when I asked about putting him down and asked for the name of the farrier. He back peddled when he heard his name.
He came out to look at his hooves before putting him down and agreed that they were not right and would get worse in the future.
I am in Australia not America. There are different rules over here.
The farrier did not tell me to put him down. What he actually said was I would be better off putting my money and time training into another horse, as he could see this going badly in the future. That was his opinion only when he said that. It was my opinon to agree with him when he pointed out the bulging coronet and the pressure on the tendon going down the back of his leg with him just standing.
I have seen it happen before with another farrier. Girl gets farrier out and he says no don’t buy, horse will break down in the future (Not club footed). Horse gets sold to our chief instructor instead. 2 years later the horse is up and starting to go places and then breaks down and there was nothing she or the vets could do about it.
I did get another horse and am spending time and money on him.
Again though he could slip in the paddock or get a snakebite. You never know with horses.
I did have a QH with as club foot in my youth. He was fine and didn’t have a problem.
There is a grade scale for club foot. Mine is about a 1. I have an excellent farrier, and we do his feet every 4 - 5. I can tell when his foot starts to dish that he is overdue.
Keep in mind that a club foot is really a tendon/ligament problem. I make sure my guy does not get too tight. He gets plenty of SoreNoMore gelation and is wrapped for riding. I am very careful about making sure he is limbered up, especially in softer footing.
With these precautions, he is fine. He is a 13 year old 2’6" hunter.
The trim is key for club foot horses. Stretching the leg, pastern and tendons is also key. This horse was 17 when I started to trim him. Club hoof his entire life.
Massage, stretches and careful trimming has helped him a lot. The club hoof will never go away but it can be improvedhttp://imgur.com/a/cUmNd
The tendons aren’t going to stretch. Any club that’s truly a club won’t be helped by any massage, but if a club starts to develop from other origins, like injury, regular muscle massage can help keep those muscles from contracting and causing an upright foot.
Club/upright feet made worse by external variables can definitely be helped - sometimes only a little, sometimes a lot, depending on how early in the process they are caught, and what their cause was.
Recently purchased long yearling that has one front foot much different than the other. She is off quite often. Trainer says put shoes on her. I want xrays to know what we are dealing with before I put any more $$ into her. Calling vet tomorrow.
At about a year is when genetic club feet start to develop. If the owner and farrier are paying attention, it can be much better managed, even getting to the point of CL surgery to all but negate the issue if necessary.
But ignore it, or try to make the foot like the other, and things get out of hand quickly.
As a still-yearling, it’s still possible to make improvements, depending on what’s going on, including the surgery.
We had one in barn. She had crappy feet too. Hers was actually an upright foot. Our farrier is amazing and kept her up every 3-4 weeks. Last time
it was xrayed vet said maybe a little off the heel to get the angle right, but all in all great. She looks different on each leg but not off if that makes sense. She has been vetted before and nothing of concern. Just has 2 different feet and sometimes walks and trots differently on each leg if that makes sense.
