Grazing foot in mare

[Highflyer99]

Over the summer, I acquired a very nice fancy tb mare. It turns out she is in foal. I got her as a jumper project but she was accidentally bred by her previous owners warmblood stallion. Not exactly what I was hoping for but she’s apparently due in March.

My dilemma is this. She has a bit of a grazing foot on her right front . I call it a grazing foot and not a traditional club foot because it seems to have developed between the age of 5-6. She was on the track as a youngster then was laid up to be let down in a field and bred for a year. The conformation pictures of her feet right off the track are normal and look great. After being turned out to foal for a year she has a noticeable club foot. She has a short neck and a right foot back grazing stance 100% of the time she grazes.

I saw pictures if her foal as a weanling and again at two and he appears to have a much longer neck and normal feet.

The mare is a lovely mover with a wow jump. She’s 100% sound with shoes and regular 6 week trims.

Is this likely something the foal will have? If the foal is born with a club foot what is the likelihood of it being corrected with regular trims? Can I prevent the foal from adopting the grazing stance that led to this deformity? Please excuse my somewhat naive questions but I am new to this and would not have bred this mare intentionally because of her foot. I just want to give the foal the best shot at having a normal foot.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[ladyj79]

I only know one breeder who uses the term grazing hoof. …to explain her stallion’s club foot and the club foot he tends to throw. A club foot is a club foot. The degree of clubbing and thus treatment will very. Certainly work alongside a vet and an experienced farrier for both mare and foal.

[Highflyer99]

Thank you for your reply. I have a great farrier working with my mare now and her foot looks great. The woman I got the mare from appears to be less than honest. She had the mare freshly trimmed and shod when I went to try her and her club foot wasn’t noticeable. When her foot started to grow upright I called the woman ( who is also a veterinarian) and that was the explanation I was given. I also had no idea the mare was in foal until I had owned her for 4 months hopefully a good vet and farrier can help the foal get a proper start

[cheektwocheek]

Did a Vet sell you a mare that was in foal & not disclose it? My advice, get an Attorney. I have several Great Attorneys on my speed dial.
Just remember the good ones cost $$$ every time you want to pursue something. Make sure the amount of loss/damage makes it worth persuing first.

[joiedevie99]

Shoot some x-rays of the mare’s front feet and see what you are actually dealing with.

[Boo]

I was going to ask if you had x-rays too. It may be a true club or may well be a very dominant foot and one sided horse.

I would suspect that 6 weekly trims/shoeing will be too far apart if you really want to improve this. I use to shoe my gelding every 4 weeks that had a high/low unevenness to keep him even.

[malinda]

In my experience (20 years as a full-time farrier) the likelyhood of passing on a genetic club foot seems to be 50/50 (assuming the sire isn’t club footed). Certainly, proper farrier care is a must for the foal, but if he’s going to have a club foot, he’s going to have a club foot. You can’t fix it without surgery, you can only maintain it.

[JB]

The “grazing foot” is a real phenomenon. A study was done on young WB foals (I forget how many, but not insignificant at least as far as horse studies, and with varying pedigrees) and the “small pretty head and long legs” look bred for added to the chance that a foal would develop a split-leg (forward/back) grazing stance and develop a “grazing foot”.

Caught early and managed correctly it can be almost negated, but at the same time, you can’t necessarily trim away what 16-18 hours a day standing like that does.

The best things are to catch it early, do very frequent trimming, add in massage work as well as the 2 legs will develop different muscle issues - leading shoulder can become tight from added weight, and the trailing leg can develop shortened/tight triceps, both of which serve to make the horse continue the stance.

A good trimmer will manage your mare’s feet appropriately. It may be that good, frequent trimming, as in every 2-3 weeks for a while, can make the foot back to almost normal IF it’s genetically a normal foot.

You don’t really need xrays. The heels go where the heels go, the toes go where the toes go, and if the foot it still a bit upright when the heels are down and back where they belong, then it’s at least an “upright” foot, if not a Grade 1 club. And yes, it may well pass on to the foal.

[RanchoAdobe]

Surgery is also a very good option. When done on early on foals he prognosis is excellent and there are no limitations on a sport career (cut check ligaments are also a non-factor on vetting later on in life). The surgery is not expensive and does not require intense aftercare. If you see a pronounced club foot developing on the foal consult with your vet as surgery might be the best answer.

[JB]

Yes, surgery early on a true club foot, or even one that has become irreversibly upright due to injury, can be very successful

Most true clubs start to become evident around a year. You can still do the CL-cutting surgery at that point if it appears that it’s going to become a big issue.

[khall]

JB I totally disagree about frequent trimming to care for a high foot. My farrier will use a glue on shoe with a wedge on it, leave the wedge on for a week and then pull the wedge then pull the cuff after the second week. The wedge allows the muscles and tendons/ligaments to relax and allow the boney column to settle back into correct alignment. Trying to keep the foot trimmed down will actually keep the tension on the muscles, tendons/ligaments that will not allow the boney column to relax down.

[JB]

[QUOTE=khall;8420621]
JB I totally disagree about frequent trimming to care for a high foot. My farrier will use a glue on shoe with a wedge on it, leave the wedge on for a week and then pull the wedge then pull the cuff after the second week. The wedge allows the muscles and tendons/ligaments to relax and allow the boney column to settle back into correct alignment. Trying to keep the foot trimmed down will actually keep the tension on the muscles, tendons/ligaments that will not allow the boney column to relax down.[/QUOTE]

I never said things can always be dealt with just by frequent trimming.

@JB;8420303

Caught early and managed correctly it can be almost negated, but at the same time, you can’t necessarily trim away what 16-18 hours a day standing like that does.

A good trimmer will manage your mare’s feet appropriately. It may be that good, frequent trimming, as in every 2-3 weeks for a while, can make the foot back to almost normal IF it’s genetically a normal foot.

I have personally dealt with a “grazing foot” that behaved exactly like I described, down to the shoulder soreness issues. It was my foal. I trimmed him every week (and sometimes even swiped the heels every couple days) when he started getting upright and grazing more and more in a split stance and exacerbating the issue.

I didn’t deal with just the foot - I dealt with the tight muscles which were part of the problem.

I know many other youngsters successfully dealt with the same way.

That doesn’t mean all can be.

[Highflyer99]

Thank you all for the info. I am beginning to feel like this foal can have a great chance at a normal life with proper care. I’m not opposed to trying farrier care and doing surgery if needed. I did have my mare X-rayed and the vet says it is not a true club foot. With proper hoof care it is barely noticeable unless she is about 4-6 weeks out from a trim and reset which is why I didn’t notice it when I bought her.

[JB]

Many many horses have a high-low set of front feet. Whether that is because of uncared for “grazing foot” situations that become set, or the “grazing stance” comes out of the mismatched feet, likely just depends - I’m sure it goes both ways.

More frequent trimming (if they are barefoot) definitely helps keep things more even - keep the toe back on the forward foot, keep the heel down on the rearward foot.

[Dressagelvr]

. I only know one breeder who uses the term grazing hoof. …to explain her stallion’s club foot and the club foot he tends to throw.

I bet I know who this is. My only question is why he ever got approved. For that matter, how many club footed stallions are out there?

[MagicRoseFarm]

Grazing foot is real… One way to help prevent it is to limit grazing by supplying good hay outside using large tractor tires with the rim cut out… Ours are almost 2’ tall and force the horse to stand with both toes against the rubber side while eating from the center