Club Foot

[Patuxet]

I've not had any experience with it before and I'd appreciate hearing how it's worked out for others.

My weanling colt is 6+ months old and this is what the farm manager wrote to me:

"We had Bard in and I had the vet look at him as he was sore in a front foot. He had an abscess pop from the coronet band so he could go out again. While we were looking at him we were concerned about that foot being a little clubby. We will probably have to take him to Dr. X and have the check ligament cut so we can get his foot at the angle it needs to be. No hurry on that now as we are trying some corrective work on it first, every three weeks just lightly hitting the heels and not touching the toes unless we have to."

Thanks in advance for whatever information you can share.

Allison

[Strategic Maneuver]

I have had several club feet over the years and had very good results with using trimming every three to four weeks by an experienced farrier and alot of patience. It can take six months to a year in my experience to get the results and correct angle you need. Good luck.

[LB]

I think the best thing you can do with a club foot is let it be what it is. Farriers do more harm than good trying to reshape a club foot to look "normal". As long as the horse is comfortable and sound, why change anything? We raced a filly with a club foot who had no problems and a friend raced a G3 winner of 200K+ who also had one. Certain high profile stallions (like A.P. Indy) are known for throwing clubby feet and it hasn't hurt his offspring any.

[Shammy Davis]

I agree with LB. Let it alone for now. My experience with it is that young horses adjust, they often grow out of problems, and club feet vary in severity. Foals and younger weanlings often look very upright anyhow which can sometimes fool the most experience vet or farrier. There is some credence to the supposition that the club foot is inheritable. There is some thought that in foals it is a result of over-nutrition and/or lack of exercise also. We have a young filly with a club foot, whose sire had a club foot. The sire was stakes placed and a good sporthorse stallion. We've let her run unshod and it appears that has helped to strengthen the toe and sole.

To be considered a club foot the hoof angle must be more than 60 degrees with the heels high in relation to the toe. Taking a look at the angle of the coffin bone (x-rays) is a good idea also. That will definitely tell you how severe the problem is.

When I started shoeing over 40 years ago, they taught us that by gradually reducing the heel allowing the toe to grow the angle would become more natural. I learned quickly that it worked sometimes and other times it didn't. Personally, I came to the opinion that the less severe ones withstood the adjustments. The results of corrective trimming and shoeing depend a great deal on other factors that the farrier may or may not have control of. My daughter rides a TB field hunter who has a club foot. His was a result of breaking down on the track and being held in a stall for a long period of time. Laminitis set in because of unequal weight bearing like in the case of BARBARO. After two years of daily care, he recovered and is a wonderful field horse for her.

Remember with the club foot the stress is on the toe and you need to protect it. I was not a track farrier so I don't know exactly how they deal with the club foot and shoeing, but I'm aware that many racehorses have careers despite them. I do know that one important aspect of putting shoes, particularly racing plates and training shoes, on them is to insure that the club foot length of stride is nearly equal (you will never get it equal) to the opposite natural hoof stride. This is where farriery becomes more art than science. There is no reason to do anything but trim (which is apparently being done) now so you can monitor how the natural movement wears on the club hoof and you can compare it to the opposing good hoof. That will give you and your farrier an idea of what you are dealing with.

Having raised a number of foals to adulthood, I'm not telling any secrets that patience is often a horseman's best tool. I've seen some foals that looked like the only part of the anatomy they would run on was the backs of the pasterns. In a couple of months, they were galloping around as if they were born perfectly conformed.

Choose your farrier carefully is also important. Best wishes.

[Shammy Davis]

http://www.anvilmag.com/farrier/910f1.htm

[Blowin Smoke]

I think the best thing you can do with a club foot is let it be what it is. Farriers do more harm than good trying to reshape a club foot to look "normal". As long as the horse is comfortable and sound, why change anything? We raced a filly with a club foot who had no problems and a friend raced a G3 winner of 200K+ who also had one. Certain high profile stallions (like A.P. Indy) are known for throwing clubby feet and it hasn't hurt his offspring any.

I second this....the best horse I have ever girthed up had the worst club foot I have ever seen. I had him x-rayed when I bought him and the bone structure was off even where his P2 tied into the coffin joint. I bought him anyway, and it turned out to be a wise investment. He was a barrel horse, and he and I qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo 3 times, qualified for every finals we held a card in, I rode him for 10 years and paid for himself at least 4 times! I sold him when he was 17, and the only stipulation was that he go far away for two reasons. I didn't want to see him deteriorate or have to compete against him. The girl that bought him and I became great friends, and she bought two more horses from me after him.

Ironically, she called me about a month ago saying she thought she was going to have to put him down. That he just wasn't eating well and he was starting to get lame and sore. He's 27 years old now and is the toughest horse that's ever drawn a breath of air....all heart. He won for every person who threw a leg over him against the toughest competition in the world. The appointment was scheduled for last Thursday, the vet came by and wanted to take a look at him. He had pigeon fever!!!! Put him on treatment and decided to come back Tuesday with expectations of euthanising him. NOPE.....he's now running around like he's 10 again. If I could buy a thousand like him, i'd take them all club footed. If any horse deserves to be cloned it's that one!

[Mood Swings]

I agree with the other posters. I would be most concerned with what was said to you "we were concerned about that foot being a little clubby."
"We will probably have to take him to Dr. X and have the check ligament cut."

I don't think people entertain the idea of radical ligament cutting for a little bit of a club foot. I think an experienced farrier can be very helpful, subtle and frequent corrective trimming being the way to go. I do think more harm then good can be caused by dramatic changes. I'm also not a fan of corrective surgeries. jmpo

[LKR]

People, this is why an individual has to become as knowledgeable as possible about your horses. You do not have to take the word of some
farm manager for anything. Investigate, check it out yourself. I have suspicions about every farm manager I have ever met. Most don't have the knowledge you think they do. That is why YOU need to do your homework. They will put off to a vet or a horseshoer, and sometimes they aren't as good as you have been led to believe, things that can be taken care of with the tincture of time. Don't be led by the nose when you are paying the bills.

[madelyn]

Please, please don't have a ligament cut on the say so of a farm worker. Horses change SO much as they grow. I think a really good farrier could do more. Whoever Dr. X is that will just willy-nilly cut a ligament on someone else's say so should be struck off.

[LB]

Just pointing out that this thread is 6 months old.

[LKR]

In that case, what happened?? Did everything take care of itself or was there surgery. All replies were very good reminders.