So we had a mare shod this morning and shoer said she is about club footed on right front. Said she should be ok to run. Can a shoer make one have a club foot? She didn't look that way when we bought her 2 months ago. But she had a fresh set of shoes on when we bought her. And she looked balanced to me. So I guess the question is can a shoer shoe a horse wrong and make them devolope a club foot ?
Posted 2015-01-27 12:25 PM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Queen Boobie 2
Posts: 7521
strawfly special - 2015-01-27 11:39 AM
So we had a mare shod this morning and shoer said she is about club footed on right front. Said she should be ok to run. Can a shoer make one have a club foot? She didn't look that way when we bought her 2 months ago. But she had a fresh set of shoes on when we bought her. And she looked balanced to me. So I guess the question is can a shoer shoe a horse wrong and make them devolope a club foot ?
A shoer cannot manufacture a club foot. If she is just starting to look steep, I would kind of wonder about my current shoe job. If it was me (an admitted horse hypochondriac) I would take her to a good performance horse vet for x-Ray to look at her Palmar angle and satisfy my curiosity/concerns about what is going on in there.
Posted 2015-01-27 12:32 PM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Elite Veteran
Posts: 669 Location: Central Texas
We had a gelding that had a slight club foot. Had it xrayed just to make sure nothing was going on inside. It wasn't. We kept him trimmed regularly to maintain balance and we never had an issue even later in life. One important thing is do not let your farrier trim to much heel off or it can only make it worse. Just keep it balanced. Never had issues with him running or preforming either.
Posted 2015-01-27 12:38 PM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 596
Thanks everyone. Never had to deal with a club foot. If you look at her feet from front and sides. She looks perfectly balanced. If you look at front standing at her hip. Right heal looks longer than left. Do I had my shoer out this morning and he told me she was a little club footed
Posted 2015-01-27 12:42 PM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Expert
Posts: 1857
We've had lots of club footed, pigeon toed, toed out, and the key to it all is shoeing and trimming for balance not to correct the issue. You can do some correcting before maturity but once they are fully developed you can NOT fix it. Everything from the horses shoulder down will develop in order to compensate for the deformity. Balance the foot the way it grows.
Posted 2015-01-27 12:42 PM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342 Location: NE Texas
Best horse I have ever ridden had the worst club foot i've ever seen. He qualified me for the CNFR three of the four years I was in college and continued to be a top of the 1D horse way up into his 20's. We shod him as he stood, never did anything to try to improve his club foot and he never had any trouble at all with soundness or anything else. I rode him until he was 17 and he'd never been injected or anything else at that point. Great horse for me and many others.
Posted 2015-01-27 12:56 PM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Expert
Posts: 1611
Herbie - 2015-01-27 1:42 PM
Best horse I have ever ridden had the worst club foot i've ever seen. He qualified me for the CNFR three of the four years I was in college and continued to be a top of the 1D horse way up into his 20's. We shod him as he stood, never did anything to try to improve his club foot and he never had any trouble at all with soundness or anything else. I rode him until he was 17 and he'd never been injected or anything else at that point. Great horse for me and many others.
Exactly if shod right you won't see problems until late twenties early 30s!
I should've been more specific with the time frame.
Posted 2015-01-27 1:29 PM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Veteran
Posts: 275
You mentioned you took XRays before you bought her. If the club foot didn't show up on those, it is likely a farrier issue.
My horse has a very mild club foot but it is amazing how apparent it is on his XRays. Your vet should have noticed that or have someone else take a look at them to make sure it isn't the trim.
Posted 2015-01-28 6:09 AM Subject: RE: Club foot ?
Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
Long as you have a decent shoer, no problem. I cant count how many i have had. My mare is i think either 19 or 20 still sound in front. Has a bad stifle, most people would not even comsider her lame in back either. Would buy another in a heartbeat.
Club foot ?
