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Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
 
| My 6 mo. filly toes out a bit. My farrier has been out a lot and has been trimming her. When he trims her he trims the outside of her hoof more. He said "if they toe out, you trim out" meaning you trim the outside more. To me that seems backwards?!?! I would think you would want to trim the inside more??? I don't want to question my farrier because hes always done a great job, but can someone please explain the logic behind this? Is that right? Or what methods are preferred to try and correct her toeing out if possible? Thanks! |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
  
Location: Kansas | hmmmmm I'm not sure. I have a mare that is "crooked" or toes in on her right front....the outside always grows longer and so more has to be taken off the outside, rather than the inside. My farrier has done a great (and I mean great) job getting that to level out.
I'd get a second opinion from another well known farrier in your area if you don't feel what he is doing is correct |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12704
| Hold your hand out in front of you. Drop the inside (thumb) and which was does it make your hand turn? Out. Works the same on horses. Drop the inside heel and it turns out the foot. Drop outside and it turns it in. But, a farrier shouldn't try to correct a bone issue with the feet. If a horse is turned out or in anywhere above the hoof you trim or shoe as they stand. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1889
Location: Texas | lonely va barrelxr - 2013-12-02 2:42 PM Hold your hand out in front of you. Drop the inside (thumb) and which was does it make your hand turn? Out. Works the same on horses. Drop the inside heel and it turns out the foot. Drop outside and it turns it in. But, a farrier shouldn't try to correct a bone issue with the feet. If a horse is turned out or in anywhere above the hoof you trim or shoe as they stand.
This is extremely important or it can cause growth issues if it is the bone that is turning out. Has your vet looked at it and given any recommendations? |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | We were taught in farrier school to lower the outside of a toed out foal. So I'd say your farrier is right.
Just a note: There is a yearling we trimmed whose feet were so very toed out, I thought he'd never get straight. The farrier I was working with gave the owner an old rasp and told him to rasp off the outside of his feet every week from the center of the foot to the outside. That horse turned out to be an AQHA WORLD champion halter horse. |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Fun2Run - 2013-12-02 6:35 PM We were taught in farrier school to lower the outside of a toed out foal. So I'd say your farrier is right.
Just a note: There is a yearling we trimmed whose feet were so very toed out, I thought he'd never get straight. The farrier I was working with gave the owner an old rasp and told him to rasp off the outside of his feet every week from the center of the foot to the outside. That horse turned out to be an AQHA WORLD champion halter horse.
This is correct, however if your foal is bench kneed where they don't face straight forward, but tip to the outside, your foal will always toe out. My show horse is slightly this way. He is 2 so we trim the outside down, but trim the bottom level as he is what he is. The side trimming it because if I let it grow too much, he wears the inside down and the outside flares. It is purly for looks. |
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 Did I miss the party?
Posts: 3864
| This is correct, however if your foal is bench kneed where they don't face straight forward, but tip to the outside, your foal will always toe out. My show horse is slightly this way. He is 2 so we trim the outside down, but trim the bottom level as he is what he is. The side trimming it because if I let it grow too much, he wears the inside down and the outside flares. It is purly for looks.
This |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
| I believe hers does come from the knees. The vet called it a angular limb deformity, but said it was not bad enough to go in and scrap the knees. I ended up putting her on "rejuvenade." I was told as her chest widens it would self correct a lot, but now i'm getting paranoid that theres more I should be doing. She doesn't toe out a lot, but I just worry. Since it is most likely is coming from the knee should I rasp the outsides often or just leave it???? I feel better that my farrier is doing it correct so thank you everyone! |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I think some are just born that way and I wouldn't call it a deformity, bottom line is they just aren't straight legged. She may change as she grows for sure. I bought my gelding over the internet off some pics. He gets worse and better as he grows. I just try and keep up on it. It won't hurt a thing to keep the outside rasped off, it is only for looks. It is when you touch the bottom that you will change the way the foot lands.
If it makes you feel better, my gelding is going to be a jumper and I haven't had a vet or farrier yet that is worried about his bench knees. That made me feel better so I will keep his feet looking correct and that is all we can do. |
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Expert
Posts: 1889
Location: Texas | cn1705 - 2013-12-02 9:10 PM
I believe hers does come from the knees. The vet called it a angular limb deformity, but said it was not bad enough to go in and scrap the knees. I ended up putting her on "rejuvenade." I was told as her chest widens it would self correct a lot, but now i'm getting paranoid that theres more I should be doing. She doesn't toe out a lot, but I just worry. Since it is most likely is coming from the knee should I rasp the outsides often or just leave it???? I feel better that my farrier is doing it correct so thank you everyone!
I would recommend that you get your vets opinion. Sounds like a rotational deformity if it is coming from the knee and should self correct as she gets older. My vet has told my farrier to trim as they stand for this situation and not attempt to fix it through rasping. Otherwise, it can cause more problems in the future and weaken the leg. Rejuvenade works only if the deformity is due to insufficient minerals. While t won't hurt, you may just be throwing money at the issue. I know its hard to sit on your hands and not be doing something to help it. However, you definitely don't want to do something to make it worse. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
| Thank you for the responses  |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 641
Location: Michigan | Interesting thing about the Rejuvenaide. I had someone recommend it to me and I read what the company said about it and I bought it for my fast growing weanling filly that was really upright in her pasterns. Copper is one of the most frequently cited minerals that are lacking in horses with developemental orthopedic defects. I have read that growing horses need between 50 - 100 mg Copper per day, especially if they are having growing problems.
How much does the Rejuvenaide provide? 3.2 mg. Not a significant amount when you think about them needing at least 50 mg per day. After I realized that, I switched my filly to Horse Manna because 4 oz per day provides 24.9 mg Copper. (You have to calculate it out because the Horse Manna label lists the minerals in ppm rather than mg). A much more significant amount of copper! And within a couple weeks, her pasterns came down quite a bit. I was very happy. And the Horse Manna only costs about 40 cents a day.
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