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Toed out conformation in prospect

A horse I’m considering toes out on his right front leg, and I’d like others’ opinions on whether I should take him off my list as a potential 3’ hunter or jumper. He’s a big (17h) six-year old TB, and appears to move fine and be sound currently, but I’m not sure how much this flaw might affect future soundness.

Hi knees look kind of straight (if I am seeing them correctly, tricky photo) so I’d think this could be helped with better farrier work.

Did he have racetrack experience in his past?

If yes, how many races and if you look at his record, any suspicious ‘gaps’ during his track career?

If yes, I’d x-ray the legs and see what the PPE shows.

If he PPEs okay and nothing pops up in his past, you need a farrier to ensure the foot lands flat… don’t necessarily try to ‘fix’ this toe out. The horse is 6, his bones are pretty much done growing and trying to make a toe out ‘straight’ might cause more problems than it would fix. I’d also suggest getting photos with clean legs on a clean, dry, hard surface and make sure he’s squared up and both front and side photos.

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The horse only ran twice, as a 4-year old, and I was told was too slow. No gaps in his track career because it was so short. I certainly would get a thorough PPE with xrays, and I think farrier suggestions make a lot of sense. I have see side view conformation photos, and don’t see any obvious problems. I hope to see him in person before making a decision whether to vet him.

So you haven’t seen him in person? Just the photos? I wouldn’t put too much stock in this photo alone as he isn’t set up super well (yes he’s square in front, but the back feet actually look a touch toed in…which would be super uncommon structurally. More likely it indicates a lot of shifting back and forth followed by “quick take the picture”.) What I see in this photo is mostly a horse that isn’t putting as much weight on the RF as the LF (which I am guessing makes it look more toed out than it might if squarely weighted).

Like I said, this picture alone isn’t enough to scare me off. But do pay attention to if there is a tendency to always shift weight off this leg in other photos and when you see him.

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The poor guy is not only shod poorly, he looks to be about 3 weeks overdue for the farrier. He has no inside hoof on the right front. He’s probably high on the outside wall, which will cause him to toe out. Do you have a good corrective farrier? Do you plan on a PPE? The left kee appears to turn out slightly, but it’s hard to see with all the mud on his legs. While a vet won’t give you a yes or no, they can help you determine if the left knee could be a problem later on. If you like the horse, at the very least, send out your farrier and get him shod, even if you have to pay for it.

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The horse is 5 hours away from me, but I do plan to see him in person, and am going to request a couple more confo pics with his legs cleaned off, and ask if he has been reshod since these photos were taken. I do have a very good farrier I use at home, and I will also do a comprehensive PPE if I decide to pursue purchasing him. These comments are very helpful.

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I bought a 6 year old OTTB who ran 14 times who toes out. A bit on both legs but more so on right. Vet pointed it out at PPE but also said he was very thin, no muscle and overdue to be trimmed. He had retired sound after 3 seasons and he was fairly competitive on the track. No other issues came up in PPE.

I took a chance and bought him 2 years ago. He’s put on probably close to 100 lbs and a lot or muscle. His neck, shoulder and chest look way different. When I got him, his shoulders were so lax, he could put his foot down and pivot so his shoulder was almost 90 degrees sideways. Never seen a horse quite that flexible. With more muscle in shoulder and chest, his legs stand much straighter.

My farrier has greatly improved his feet and helped remove some of the flare on his feet without trying to make them textbook perfect. The biggest thing is we took his shoes off Nov 2019 while I was pregnant and he grew two totally new front feet. Bigger and stronger and the flare is gone. I’m sure if his feet got really really long, they’d start looking more toed out but after 2 years, you’d have to look closely to see that his feet aren’t perfectly ideal.

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This would not be a deal killer to me.

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I don’t see anything that would put me off from moving forward.

Certainly, not what I was expecting from the topic headline.

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Thanks again to everyone for the responses. I realize there are many sound horses with imperfect conformation, and it’s helpful to get this feedback. I feel much more confident that the horse may be worth vetting, since he seems like a good match for what I want.

I had a vet tell me that toe-out is much preferred to toe-in. And this horse isn’t very toe-out to begin with. Obviously get the PPE, but I wouldn’t lose one second of sleep about the tiny bit of toe-out I see here.

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