Club footed jumper: worth the risk

[CHT]

Shopping for a client, and finding surprisingly little in her budget. Her goals are modest (3’ jumpers), and I honestly did not expect that to require a 5 figure budget in my area, but so far our choices have been very limited. One horse that came up fits her description of a dream horse, but his owner says he has a club foot (she has x-rays if we decided to consider him).

Obviously we would discuss with our vet/farrier, but before she goes to look at him, is there anything in particular we should check regarding his foot? And special considerations? He is doing what we need him to do now, and is fairly young (under 10). Is it worth even looking at a horse with a club foot, assuming it is mild?

[Elouise]

My guess that a few people will chime a few ‘don’t buy it’ heart break stories, but I say take a look, see how bad it is, give the horse a try, see if it works for your client and then talk with your Vet and farrier. Since the pickins are slim and the budget is limited, you are bound to find some hole in every horse. At least you know what this hole is. Every horse has a management question; it’s up to you, the client, the Vet and farrier whether you can manage the hole.

I know a few horses with club foots, some mild and some ‘more than I could tolerate’. But my horse has a physical issue that many, many people would shy away from (especially if you posted the question on this board) and I have had zero issues with his issue, but I know about it and manage it. I also bought a jumper with a really, really crooked leg. I owned him for 9 years and that horse was fast and safe, but needed some maintenance from time to time.

Good luck!

[PNWjumper]

Of course the answer is, “it depends” (mostly on the severity of the club foot). But short answer, a club foot is mostly a non-issue. I have never not bought a horse because of a club foot and I have owned a quite a few through the years that were clubby on one.

[gottagrey]

I have a friend that bought a horse with a club foot - he even did well in U/S classes - seems he’d toss out that club foot which made him look like a better mover LOL. He didn’t have any issues or management until he got older. Another horse at that barn was born with a mild club foot and played polo with no problems. They didn’t have management issues either.

So in a nutshell, it all depends, but if the horse ticks off a lot of your client’s boxes it certainly doesn’t hurt to take a look at him.

[Calvincrowe]

My mare has a club foot and has successfully competed through 1.10s. We are careful to stay on top of shoeing and make no changes to the angles she’s happy with. PPE X-rays showed no changes from her as a 3yo to 9yo internally (we were lucky to have both sets). Get a good PPE, check his show history, vet history etc. then go for it!

[Farosh]

Yeah icky feet make me squirm but if the horse is athletic and only has to jump 3’ will probably be fine, especially if it’s mild. I’ve had clubby footed horses that jumped higher for a long time without issues and I’ve seen some really really horrendously crooked horses perform well for a long time at really high levels. So you never know but if a clubby foot is the only issue and you have a good farrier I think you’ll be alright.

[merrygoround]

How long has he been doing “what you need to do”. Club feet require a good farrier. I had one that barefoot most of her life. Never took a bad step.

[Showbizz]

I currently have 4-5 horses in training with a club foot. And there are more at the barn I work out of. IMO, it’s a non-issue, but do spend more time looking at the opposite hind. When we find issues, that’s typically where they are.

[findeight]

Prices typically are high this time of year, they go down later in the season.

Ive had one that was “ clubby” but didn’t jump it so…but it had been doing the job I needed it to do for me when I bought it and continued to do so.

IMO, if it has been doing 3’ Jumpers (what is that, .75m?) safely and soundly? Don’t see why not IF the vet agrees.But I caution you to get new x rays of that foot. Things can change.

[Madison]

@findeight

IMO, if it has been doing 3’ Jumpers (what is that, .75m?) safely and soundly? Don’t see why not IF the vet agrees.But I caution you to get new x rays of that foot. Things can change.

3’ is the .9m, but I agree that if the horse has a record showing it has been doing the job soundly, that makes a big difference in the analysis, provided your PPE vet doesn’t find concerns and thinks that maintaining it won’t be too tricky. You will want good current images of the foot to help your farrier too.

I passed on a fancy club-footed hunter when I was shopping because it was 17.1, 6 years old, and was just starting to jump, and the leg with the club foot was already flexing positive and showing abnormally in the soft tissue on an ultrasound (which I shouldn’t even have taken the step to do but I really liked the horse!). My vet finally looked at me and said “he’s 6, he hasn’t really done much, and I’m VERY CONCERNED!” At which point I finally stopped the wishful thinking and moved on :lol:

[hairystockings]

It all depends on age and the horses record. I just passed on a 4 year old with a mild clubbed foot because he was off on it when the vet showed up to do the PPE. Turns out he had been shod poorly on it for several months but upon reviewing the xrays there were a lot of changes in the foot already for a 4 year old who had literally only had like 90+ days under saddle and was already demonstrating difficulty in managing it.

My vet basically said if he was older and his xrays had always looked like that for a long time and he had already proven his ability to do the requested job, it’d be a very different conversation. For a 4 year old though that was too high of a risk and everyone recommended we pass, which was a bummer. Generally speaking I find a mild club foot can be maintained with a good farrier and most people don’t even notice.

[CHT]

I would probably feel better if he was older, as he hasn’t been jumping at 0.9 long, and hasn’t competed at that height yet (seller is more into pony club than showing). I guess we will see if we like him first.

[16_Hands]

I’m leasing a 20 year old QH who is a bit clubby in one foot. He evented to prelim with no problems and he’s still going strong with no problems. I’d say go for it if you like him.

[PnkPanthr]

I am also in the “it depends” camp. My preliminary(3’7") event horse years ago had a club foot and he never took a lame step on it. However, my last horse who I did the hunters on had a club foot also but it caused a lot of soundness issues. However, he just had horrible feet quality in general. So I think go with what your vet and farrier say and what the overall hoof quality looks like. As I said, I have had horses where it was no issue, but my vet during the pre-purchase thought it would be, and then the second horse who the vet told me it wouldn’t be an issue, it was. Unfortunately it is kind of a crap shoot, but usually, with the right management, it is no big deal.

[findeight]

@16 Hands

I’m leasing a 20 year old QH who is a bit clubby in one foot. He evented to prelim with no problems and he’s still going strong with no problems. I’d say go for it if you like him.

Yeah but OP, who is a barn owner and trainer, is not buying this horse for herself but for a client on a tight budget. I vote no on this one unless client has a place to retire the horse or is willing to switch to a non jumping goal or OP woukd buy it back from her. Too much risk for client here. OP could buy it for herself and training it up for a year no problem. But acting as an agent representing the best interests of client who will own a single horse and board it out? Not a good idea.

Enough crap happens anyway, wouldn’t advise client to buy into known potentially limiting issues on a Green Jumper untried and untested in the show ring at height.

[CHT]

The “club foot” was a non-issue. I don’t even know if he has a club foot as he had very underrun heels, and I didn’t think the two could go together…however his horribly neglected pigeon toes was an obvious and heart breaking deal breaker. I doubt the poor horse has had his feet done this year. Flare to the inside so bad his white line is badly stretched and the outside of his hoof is straight up and down with a bulging coronet and fetlock. I would guess the length of wall on the inside was double the length of wall on the outside. The uneven loading on his fetlock/hoof was extreme. Quite upsetting to see this easily avoided neglect that I can’t imagine hasn’t caused damage.

I hate horse shopping.

[Credosporthorses]

My personal horse has a club foot. I am careful to keep him on a consistent schedule with my farrier and we make sure to keep his angles as correct as possible. He’s 13 this year and has thankfully had no issues with that foot to date. I’ve owned him 8 years.

[kande04]

@Showbizz

I currently have 4-5 horses in training with a club foot. And there are more at the barn I work out of. IMO, it’s a non-issue, but do spend more time looking at the opposite hind. When we find issues, that’s typically where they are.

Some say the same side hind is most likely to go first, or the down front, but I don’t like the way the opposite hind works either (steps medially) so am suspicious that it’s the one that’s most likely to go first. But that may depend entirely upon the horse’s conformation and use? What I have found though, is that no matter how flexible a club footed horse gets, he’s never going to feel as straight as a horse who started out more symmetrical.

Personally, I’d never buy a club footed horse for any kind of competitive or hard riding, although of course, the degree of asymmetry would be a huge factor.

[hairystockings]

@CHT

I hate horse shopping.

Preach, friend.