Toed out yearling

[Nevada10]

This is my first foal, so I’m new to this. My colt was born a bit toed out. He’s straightened up some, but now at 11 months, is still a little toed out. My farrier assures me he’ll straighten out as he ages and broadens through his chest. At what point do you expect them to be straight?

I owned a horse (adult) who was pretty severely toed out, and I want to make sure my colt doesn’t end up that way! Does anyone have photos of yearlings who grew up to have straight legs, and also yearlings who grew and stayed toed out? What do you look for to determine if they will straighten out on their own or not?

[MysticOakRanch]

Well, as they broaden through the body and chest, they tend to rotate in a bit - as a yearling, I’d guess he has a lot of broadening to do. There is a big difference between being a little toed out and being severely toed out. I’d also keep an eye on how evenly he is wearing his feet down - you may want to trim him more often if he’s wearing feet in a problematic pattern. Post some pics?

[JB]

Like Mystic said, horses are born with very narrow chests, and as they grow, the whole body cavity widens. As a result, legs widen in separation (obviously) but also rotate inward.

Yearlings should still toe-out as a function of the whole leg rotating out from the chest.

If you look at him head on when he is standing square, if his knees track right over the middle of his toes, you’re likely fine. The whole leg should look straight when viewed slightly from the side.

Some yearlings will be rotated out more than others, depending on their individual stage of widening.

So your farrier is correct, and he should not (and it doesn’t sound like he is) try to trim for a forward-pointing foot.

At what age they fully rotate forward depends, but generally by 2 or so. Some can take longer. It just gets to be more and more imperceptible.

[Nevada10]

Thanks for your responses! He’s trimmed every 4-6 weeks and my farrier said he’s wearing his foot evenly. He told me to stop worrying :lol:.

Ill try try to take some photos tomorrow. I think his whole leg is rotated out slightly.

For purposes of showing in hand, do judges take in to consideration that being slightly toed out is better than being perfectly straight at this point? My farrier said if he was straight now, he would end up toed in as an adult.

[JB]

Your farrier is correct for the reasons stated above.

I would HOPE a judge looking at young horses understands the stages of growth.

[Dutchmare433]

@JB

Your farrier is correct for the reasons stated above.

I would HOPE a judge looking at young horses understands the stages of growth.

I’ve gotten “toed out” comments from a few different judges when showing a few different horses in hand. They can only judge what they see on that day, so they will mention it. However, it doesn’t seem to affect the score very much…like the legs might go from a 7.8 to a 7.6, for example.

[MysticOakRanch]

@Dutchmare433

I’ve gotten “toed out” comments from a few different judges when showing a few different horses in hand. They can only judge what they see on that day, so they will mention it. However, it doesn’t seem to affect the score very much…like the legs might go from a 7.8 to a 7.6, for example.

Yeah, just like you will get comments like “downhill” - it is hard to judge babies! I agree, they judge what they see. And they deduct very little for minor issues. I went through the USDF sport horse judging symposium (first step toward getting your sport horse judging card - I didn’t go beyond the first step, but it was interesting education), they point out that minor deviations are minor deductions. And that you do judge what is in front of you at that moment - that is the bummer of showing babies or presenting them at inspections. They could be in the funky stage that day:lol: Yearlings seem to all be funky!

BTW, the only yearling I ever had that was straight as a yearling (no toe out) grew into a lovely adult that toed in!

Don’t sweat the small stuff…

[Lord_Helpus]

If you can tell (or have someone show you) where the rotation starts (the shoulder, the knee, the ankle) you will have more of an idea whether the toeing out is just a question of the chest still widening or whether the deviation is starting lower down the leg. If the forearm is straight but the knee is crooked, there is less of a chance that he will straighten out.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

My 23 month old still ever-so-sightly toes out at this point. I’m not worried at all–I really believe she will be perfectly correct in two years. She’s still incredibly narrow and if she was totally straight now, I fear she would toe-in as an adult. Her mother was the same at this age and has straight legs.

Is your horse even on both sides (meaning one foot isn’t more toed out than the other)? Can you post pictures? I agree with Lord Helpus–where it comes from matters.

[SnicklefritzG]

I’ve heard vets talk about exactly this and how usually people shouldn’t worry about a horse that toes out slightly, that they become straighter as their chest widens. I’ve also heard them say if they are straight that sometimes they end up turning in later. A lot of times they say to leave the horse alone and not worry about it, unless it’s an extreme case.

It also depends on the judge. I show young horses on the line in all three rings (hunters, FEH, and DSHB) and have seen some judges with widely differing scores. One horse in particular was getting placed at 80% by one judge and mid 60’s by another. That is a HUGE difference. Analyzing the scores informally seem to suggest the judge that scored that one horse mid 60’s has some pet peeves about certain structural things based on the breakdown of the individual categories. I saw the horse myself both times so it’s not like it was lame or had a major problem that was obvious from being outside the ring.

I’ve talked to people about the downhill comment too. If a young horse is in a butt high growth stage, it can be hard for them to show uphill balance. That’s just the way the chips fall. lol.

[Nevada10]

Follow up… he straightened out on his own

[goodhors]

He may continue to rotate as he ages, deepens his chest. My 4yr old still toes out, but also has a LOT of filling out to do for a mature body. Still gangly right now. I know she will be fine in time, straight-legged, very deep chested, so the toe out now is not of concern. We had some geldings who were huge, so they kept growing even after age 6yrs. Legs finally had toes forward about age 8yrs as they got mature, built muscle from regular work.

Leg columns were straight, bones properly aligned, but chest and ribcage took a long time to fully develop, push the elbows out to make fronts appear straight. Front legs only attach with muscle and soft tissue, so they can be modified with other body changes. Glad to hear the Farrier was proved right in time!

[gumtree]

@Nevada10

Thanks for your responses! He’s trimmed every 4-6 weeks and my farrier said he’s wearing his foot evenly. He told me to stop worrying :lol:.

Ill try try to take some photos tomorrow. I think his whole leg is rotated out slightly.

For purposes of showing in hand, do judges take in to consideration that being slightly toed out is better than being perfectly straight at this point? My farrier said if he was straight now, he would end up toed in as an adult.

He and others are correct in saying most, the majority will come back to center has they grow, chest broadens. Most will finish of by 18-24 months. After that it is what it is by and large. At least this is my experience inspecting countless TB foals and yearlings over the years.

You want to see the whole leg rotated out from the chest down, the face of the knees pointing the same. If the leg rotates below the knees. That’s a different story and out come.

“My farrier said if he was straight now, he would end up toed in as an adult”

This is something I don’t agree with at all and would take with a grain of salt. I have bred plenty that were dead correct right out of the box (foaled). And stayed that way. Have had some that went backward as yearlings in other ways but did not end up toeing in.

[gumtree]

@Nevada10

Follow up… he straightened out on his own

opps didn’t see the date this tread was started.

Good to hear.