|
|
 Veteran
Posts: 151
 
| Would you consider buying a horse with these issues if he was a very solid rodeo horse priced right? |
|
| |
|
 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
  
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Yes, only because I have an awesome farrier. I would get his feet x-rayed.
Edited by Nevertooold 2015-04-20 8:13 PM
|
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 151
| He's 9 and I didn't know if this problem gets worse. I will get x-rays for sure! With a good farrier is it manageable indefinitely? |
|
| |
|
 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Absolutely. You'll need a very good, experienced, educated farrier and expect to shoe every 5 weeks. Make sure you provide him with good xrays to work with.
Edited to add that the right farrier can probably fix the problem totally, depending on conformation and severity.
Edited by classicpotatochip 2015-04-20 8:41 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1035
Location: TN | I agree - get x-rays and as long as everything checks out ok there you should be fine! My barrel horse has underslung heels and uses wedge shoes. My boyfriend (a farrier) and I have worked and worked to try to get him to grow more heel, but it's a struggle. That being said he hasn't had any issues from it. The wedges help and after taking x-rays our vet says he's shod right for his foot and he is in good shape. With all that being said, if you really want the horse and it's sound, don't let it's feet keep you from buying it. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 151
| Thanks everyone!
I just learned a no feet, no horse lesson that was painful -lol! So I'm a little hesitant, but LOVE the horse. I've never had one that wore wedges and wasn't sure if they could wear them forever and stay sound. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | Skeetersmom - 2015-04-20 8:47 PM
Thanks everyone!
I just learned a no feet, no horse lesson that was painful -lol! So I'm a little hesitant, but LOVE the horse. I've never had one that wore wedges and wasn't sure if they could wear them forever and stay sound.
The horse will NOT stay sound wearing wedges forever. It causes the coffin bone to be unlevel which can cause remodeling and more issues. The horse needs to put on a good hoof supplement to encourage growth, either barefoot for a while, or shod with plenty of heel expansion to allow the heels to grow properly. Wedges are not the answer to under slung heels. They aren't useful for much of anything except ruining horses. The only time they are helpful is if a horse is full on navicular. |
|
| |
|
SHOOT IT
Posts: 1170
Location: TEXAS | I agree, wedges is not a good long-term solution. They may be a temporary fix, but will only cause more issues in the end. JMO |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1033
Location: Iowa | Agree...dislike wedges and never use them!! If I did it would be very short term. Keep the toe short and it shouldnt be a problem. |
|
| |
|
  Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | Underrun heels are typically a farrier or lack of maintenance caused problem. Some will say they are genetic, I'm not sold on that theory. You need a very good farrier to correct them & trim/shoe regularily. Wedges can be very helpful if used correctly short term but I do not agree with them being used for the life of the horse as they will just keep crushing the heel further. My preferred way of handling them is by keeping the horse barefoot & rasping the foot about every 2 weeks. I pull the heel back to the back of the frog & keep a strong bevel on the toe. |
|
| |
|
SHOOT IT
Posts: 1170
Location: TEXAS | I agree and disagree. I have one with an underslung heel. I've had him since the day he was born so I know he was born that way. I noticed it shortly after he was born; he never grew out of it (call it genetics, a birth defect, or whatever you want, but it wasn't because of lack of good care and hoof maintenance). |
|
| |
|
 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| My gelding has underslung heels but I think a lot of it is due to a conformation flaw. He was born with contracted tendons and has very upright front legs. His whole front leg/hoof isnt right. I keep him barefoot as long as I can in the winter and then he wears natural balance aluminum shoes in the summer w/2 degree wedge. For him it is more to correct his angles vs the underslung heels. Fingers crossed it seems to make him comfortable and feeling good. |
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 60
| The Happy Hoof on YouTube. Watch her videos... she explains so much about the foot, mapping, trimming, getting the toe back where it belongs.
|
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 60
| http://thenaturallyhealthyhorse.com/natural-trimming
|
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 60
| http://thenaturallyhealthyhorse.com/underrun-heels-horses/
some really good information. |
|
| |
|
Boot Detective
Posts: 1900
| The price of the horse would determine my decision to buy or not. One of the best horses I ever ran was flat footed her whole life. I ran her on 2 degree aluminum wedges and never an issue. She simply would NOT grow a heel. Yes I had a great farrier too. I raised a colt out of her and he also had the same feet no matter how we trimmed him. Some horses, that is just how they are made and the mistake you can make is trimming off too much toe trying to change them. Lesson learned. I agree you should xray the feet but I always suggest a good set of xrays on any purchase that is very expensive. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 151
| Great advice! These are fairly high profile horse people and I know they have access to a great farrier. They have tried to work on the problem, but it did not resolve.
The price is great for the level of horse, and they actually offered to pay for the x-rays, so I will come back here when I get the vet report.
Stay tuned please!! |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| We got the horse I race when she was 4, had awful feet with almost no heel. She is 10 now and we have still yet to get her heels grown out to where she stays sound without wedges. Her toes grow like crazy but we have maybe had one inch of growth in her heels. She is on a strong supplement and great farrier program, they just screwed her up royally when she was younger and now we are still fixing it. That is why young horses farrier care is so important. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | quickdraw - 2015-04-21 1:29 PM The price of the horse would determine my decision to buy or not. One of the best horses I ever ran was flat footed her whole life. I ran her on 2 degree aluminum wedges and never an issue. She simply would NOT grow a heel. Yes I had a great farrier too. I raised a colt out of her and he also had the same feet no matter how we trimmed him. Some horses, that is just how they are made and the mistake you can make is trimming off too much toe trying to change them. Lesson learned. I agree you should xray the feet but I always suggest a good set of xrays on any purchase that is very expensive.
I too have had the same experience with a mare of mine. For her tenth birthday I surprised her with a breeding to Judge Cash. I was hoping that his bone would improve her lower bone and foot conformation. It didn't. Little guy was born with flat feet too. He's a fiesty guy and great at trimming thus far. I will not breed her again and the mare is going to a Wounded Warrior riding program until my grandchildren need "the perfect" first horse.
OP, I was able to rodeo and she was fine at the little rodeo's but just got outran at the 10K plus events. She made enough to pay for her antivibe wedges and they seemed to help. |
|
| |
|
 Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | Every horse is different. Try to get xrays with the wedges and without if you can. And make sure YOU look at the films with the vet.
My rodeo gelding lives in wedge heels. However, we opted for them AFTER xrays. The wedges on him fix his palmar angle so they coukd keep him sounder in the long run.....but only if it doesnt create an issue elsewhere. Either way he is a forever horse for us. |
|
| |
Folks on-line