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 Elite Veteran
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| Anybody have any experience with a horse with a club foot? I was given a really nice bred 3 yr old with a club foot that I want to give a try. Thankfully I have a great farrier (who was this horse's farrier for the last year with the previous owner) who has really improved this horses foot. From what I know, this horse has had a club foot since it was very young and the breeder had something clipped(?) so that the heel wouldn't grow?? Sorry to sound so uneducated but I have NO experience with this lol. This guy's foot looks almost normal, just smaller than the other, and he walks with a slight limp. Any tips/tricks/anything that you guys have had success with? I want to give this guy a chance (if he can handle it).
Edited by threecanman 2015-09-22 2:27 PM
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BHW's Simon Cowell
  
Location: The Saudia Arabia of Wind Energy, Western Oklahoma | I wouldn't classify a club footed horse as having perfect conformation. If your time isn't worth anything then give him a try but I wouldn't really want to put much time into one that is limping before you even start. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 825
| ksjackofalltrades - 2015-09-22 3:22 PM
I wouldn't classify a club footed horse as having perfect conformation. If your time isn't worth anything then give him a try but I wouldn't really want to put much time into one that is limping before you even start.
That is my fear. He just had shoes put on last week so I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. I plan to give him a couple weeks to see if there is any improvement. |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | My mare is 9 this year I believe. She's club footed on her front right. I recently started having her shod. I have to have her done about every four to six weeks because the heel grows too fast. She walks with a hitch in her step. Not limping, just shorter strided on it. She's perfectly sound. Runs high 17's and low 18's with room for improvement on my end. She's a down and dirty runner despite the "condition" and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1100
Location: Southeastern Idaho | I rope on a 7 year old with a slight club foot. As the other poster said, the limp would concern me. Not sure what advice I could give, other than maybe a vet could help you know if this horse would ever be sound.
My mare has never been lame on that foot and I take every precaution to make sure its taken care of. Regular shoeing and trimming using natural balance shoes has really helped the contracted heel and rounded out the shape of her feet. I have been happy with it so far. Clubbed feet take a lot of care and in my mare's case the growth rate of heel on the clubbed foot is faster than that of the normal foot. So I have to have her reset/trimmed more often to keep the heels of both front feet the same. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| It's hard to get a club foot horse to stay sound of you put a perimeter type shoe on him with no break over. A club foot doesn't bend like a normal foot, so you have to allow the toe to overlap the shoe slightly to give them a huge break over.
I would ultrasound and X-ray the leg for suspensory and arthritic issues. Club footed race colts get run on perimeter shoes with the heel cut down. Worst thing ever.
Get him to the vet, then the Natural Balance shoer if no ligament calcification, and see if he'll stay sound with good shoeing. I'm running two successfully, and had to put one down because his suspensories were full of calcium deposits after being hammered on before I got him. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I would not waste my time or money on a club footed prospect.
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Veteran
Posts: 227
Location: Heart of Texas | I've owned a club footed gelding for 15 years and he's NEVER taken a lame step. Wears normal shoes. Runs 2/3d in a hack. Yes it looks quite different but it has ZERO effect on him as far as soundness or performance. If that horse is limping. It's not just a club hoof. I would have a vet see him. But don't let the 'club hoof' stigma deter you one bit. I wouldn't sell my old man for anything. If I had the money to clone him I would. If I could breed him, I would. He's been amazing to me. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 683
Location: Ohio | I have a 5yr club footed pasture ornament. She is a great little horse but can't keep her sound. When working with her under saddle I have to keep the sessions really short otherwise she will come on slightly lame the next day. She just can't handle it. She is also prone to abscessing. I think a lot of depends on the severity and angle of the coffin bone, especially the p3 bone. You can have them trimmed and make them look pretty all you want but it will never change the angles inside the hood capsule. You damage the p3 and you are looking at permanently lame horse.
Edited by GrittyCowgirl 2015-09-22 5:32 PM
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| Have had a couple last one is 20 was a 1-d horse still sound on the front tore ligiments in the stifle.not the first i had,no soundness problems.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 669
Location: Central Texas | ~BINGO~ - 2015-09-22 2:34 PM
My mare is 9 this year I believe. She's club footed on her front right. I recently started having her shod. I have to have her done about every four to six weeks because the heel grows too fast. She walks with a hitch in her step. Not limping, just shorter strided on it. She's perfectly sound. Runs high 17's and low 18's with room for improvement on my end. She's a down and dirty runner despite the "condition" and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.
We had a gelding like this. His was a slight club. Kept him trimmed regularly. He had a slight hitch because he was little short strided. He worked just fine, never got sore and never refused to work. It just took a little getting used to when riding him because of the slight hitch. |
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 Veteran
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Location: Oklahoma | My good 1d mare is club footed, I would recommend getting with a good vet and seeing what they could do for you. Watching her walk and get around in the pasture, she looks just fine. But This year we recently started injecting that foot as she started to get a little sore on it after getting rode all the time (she is pretty gritty mare), and the vet has made recommendations to the farrier on changing up how we shoe her. But she is great solid mare, little bit more high mainiantance then most poeple would pry care to deal with but I have never second guessed it as she amazing...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku7N8Q1BdiI This is here 6th in the 1D at denton, TX this spring out of 150+
Edited by sam.kappen 2015-09-23 8:21 AM
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Member
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| My parents bought me a 5yo with a club foot when I was in junior high. This mare was a solid 1D horse anywhere, years later I sold her to a younger gal who then went on to go to nationals in barrels and poles every year on her. The horse is now 24 and still winning district high school rodeos with the gals younger sister. |
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 Veteran
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| At one point I looked at a horse that was club foot, initially it didn't bother me but when I did the pre purchase exam and flexed her. The vet recommended X-rays and I went ahead with them. She was already arthritic and had the start of navicular changes in that ankle. I would be extremely leery and hesitant to buy one that is club footed. |
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Club Foot