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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 391
 
Location: Columbia, KY | Everyone- I have a 3 yr old arab gelding, he's had weird foot conformation since birth. one front hoof is club footed and the other has no heel. both front legs splay out a little. we have a great farrier and he's been trimming this horse since he was a baby. about 2 months ago he became slightly lame -maybe a grade 1-2 on the club footed side. he was trimmed last week, became more lame for a few days now it's back to about a grade 1. We've got an apt. w/ a local vet who has a good rep. for lameness in a few weeks and if he can't give me some answers guess I'll take him to the vet school in Raleigh for a complete work up. Have any of you had to deal with a club foot in a young horse? whats the prognosis? shoes? different type of trimming? now I"m paranoid he's going to be permanetly lame because I didn't do something earlier... |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069
Location: MI. | I have a mare that once ran without shoes. She's aging and the sole on her mild club foot has started to drop and now she has to be shod. Her mild club foot became somewhat moderate because of the uneven distribution of weight. Her good foot has lost some heel because of this.
http://www.nanric.com/Howtotreatclubfeet.asp |
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Expert
Posts: 1723
Location: michigan | Unfortunatly, club feet are not uncommon within the arabian breed. Some bloodlines are known for it and you will see top halter horses with a club winning at the national level. That being said, most horses, with good farrier/vet care, can go on to be productive riding horses at some level. Depending on the severity and care some can be competitive in the show ring but some cannot. You are doing the right thing to have a complete vet work up with the association of your farrier to find the right situation- some horses do better without shoes but some need the support. You have probably already have done so- but if you some reserch online you can find a host of good information, one good site is the horse.com. I pal of mine has a 4 yr old arabian mare with a club foot- the horse is sound and functional. She has the hoof trimmed every 3-4 weeks. I think your horse will be ok once you get good vet advice in cooperation with a good farrier. Another friend has a horse ( a large QH) with a club foot and now navicular. Its been a real struggle to keep her horse sound with or without shoes. But the horse is large and has smallish feet which is a bad combination. The goodthign about arabians is their feet are usually in good proportion to their body types. Sounds like you are doing everything right. Good Luck, keep in touch. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 479
Location: central sierra nevada foothills | My husband picked up a little quarter mare with a clubbed foot, she is 8 years. She was also malnourished and he felt sorry for her. But with a really good farrier and vet that know and deal with clubbed feet within 6 months she has gotten much better, the hooves look great, and her gait isn't as, well, gaited, as is with some clubbed footed horses. We call her our "gaited quarter", cause she rides and you can see it in her gaits like a gaited horse. It's great for my husband as he has had back surgery years ago, and he rode her in the mountains and she never missed a beat once, and he wasn't sore either, and that was on a 21 miler..... You just need to find a reputable farrier and vet to work together on this one. Most club feet I have seen at the hospital I take ours to for shoeing have had to have surgery done to somewhat correct them from birth. They have a photo album where I take ours and the pics. from before to after with shoeing or surgery are incredible...... |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 391
Location: Columbia, KY | his foot is very slightly clubbed and until recently I didn't worry much about it since he was sound. I'd been ponying him everywhere, he leaps on the trailer, will stand tied for hrs., has a wonderful disposition... he's had a saddle on him.. just isn't big enough to ride. not that I'm in any hurry to ride a 3 yr old in the first place.. like to think I've gotten smarter in my old age. LOL. this baby is out of my great old distance mare- Rushcreek Quenby and I have hopes to eventually ride him in endurance. of course the lameness might not be caused by the club foot but I have a feeling it's related. I'll see what this vet says then go from there. |
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.jpg) Expert
Posts: 2828
Location: Southern New Mexico | I have a 19yr old that is clubbed and he's great. For the 10yrs before we got him he was doing +-20 mile rides 4-5 times a week. Aside from an "off" feel in his gate it hasn't affected him. When I got him his feet were trimmed like a mules. I don't know if the farrier was trying to match all 4 feet or if the club developed because he was being trimmed that way. It took almost a year to get the other 3 feet back to normal. The 4th we have to trim every 6 weeks or so to keep it growing right. Otherwise it is all heel and no toe. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 644
Location: Odenville, Alabama | You have a Rushcreek baby? Lucky you. I had a baby from a mare named Rushcreek Dianna. She was bred (accidently) by an Appaloosa. I bought the colt before he was born. Nice youngster. Due to some changes going on in my life (kids), I sold him as a 2 year old and have lost track of him. I'd like to have another Rushcreek horse. Great endurance horses. I have a Quarter horse who has a slight club foot. I just have to trim him more frequently, his toe has a tendency to crack since that's where the weight is. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 479
Location: central sierra nevada foothills | yup, just like the previous poster have said, constant trimming or shoeing is a must to keep the heel down and work with the clubbed foot. Missy goes every 6 week, book the appt. for the next shoeing when we show up at the farrier/vets...... |
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Regular
Posts: 97
Location: Newport News, VA | My 4yo WB filly has an upright left front foot. She developed contracted tendons at about 6 weeks and my vet and farrier did a lot of work over about 10 weeks to get her heels back on the ground. The left foot was always the the higher of the two. She has compounded the problem by always grazing with her right leg forward and left back, which is common in young, long legged, small headed horses, which is why you see the club foot in a lot of Arabians. At the end of March, I started using a Natural Hoof Trimmer and have been very happy with the results. By the time she started to work on her, the front of that foot had started to dish. She always had stumbled on that foot, usually at least once or twice every time I rode her. Not only have her feet held up much better through the summer this year, but each time she trimmed her, she was able to get the heels on that foot lower and the tripping lessened, so that now I consider her basically "stumble free", which has made me positively ecstatic! She will, also, now graze with the left foot forward sometimes, which previously she NEVER did. I almost cried the first time I saw her do it! The front of that foot is still steeper than the other, but when trimmed (we do her every 4 weeks) her heels are very close to the same height. I had a veterinary chiropractor/acunpuncturist see her recently and she said her left shoulder was slightly higher than her right. She didn't say if she thought the shoulder was a result of the foot or the foot a result of the shoulder. My trimmer has a farm in Suffolk and is starting to take on new clients. I was the first at my barn, now almost the entire barn is using her. If you are interested in talking to her, send me a message and I'll send you her contact info. I can send you some "before" and "after" photos of my horse's foot. I have carefully documented the entire process. If you are interested in finding out more about Natural or Barefoot trimming, a couple good websites are www.hoofrehab.com and www.ironfreehoof.com . I got the referral to my trimmer from ironfreehoof.com. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 316
Location: Illinois | Gotta go with the last post. Turn in your good farrier for a great one for that horse. Also get your vet's opinion. I've had horses quite sometime and with a less complicated horse any farrier will do and one that you like is a plus, even if not the best. But if you have a complicated horse, it may be out of the ability range of your farrier. My biggest problem has been finding a farrier that is both good with the feet and good with the horse. They seem all too often one or the other, and when you find one that is both, they either retire on you, hurt themselves, or move back to Ireland. OK the last one only happened once. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 391
Location: Columbia, KY | I totally agree- it's worth it to use the best farrier you can find. When I was doing endurance I'd trailer 4 hrs. from S. GA to Ocala for shoeing, then luckily a very good farrier moved to our area then the drive was only an hr. away. the problem in this area - there are a lot of horse owners including farriers who've only been doing it a few yrs. who know just enough to be dangerous. many go to a couple Parelli clinics or watch a couple videos and next thing you know they are experts. esp. the "natural horsemanship" type. I'm not knocking natural horsemanship but there seem to be some real fanatics around here, like it's their way or no way. same with some of the "natural hoof care" crowd. OK I"d better shut up on that subject. I'll see what the vet says, look at the radiographs and go from there. the farrier I use is one of the best and he's open to suggestions |
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3 yr old with club foot-
