Q:        “What is the appropriate approach for trimming and

               shoeing a horse with a club foot?”

       A:        Bubby Rhoderick, CMF Maryland

Shoeing a Horse With a Club Foot

We must first evaluate the horse in order to determine the cause of the Club foot.

When genetics is the determining factor, the horse will be born with the condition and

ill be bilateral, meaning both front or both back feet will be affected. If the Club Foot

was caused by an injury, only one of the horse’s feet may be affected. The proper

shoeing method for club foot depends on it’s cause.

 

Involving Genetics:

My suggested corrective shoeing for a horse which is 5 years older or more and has a

Club Foot due to genetic factors is to create a slightly extended toe; About a ¼ inch

extension in front of his hoof wall should be sufficient. I would then shallow his angle by

about 2 degrees. A small change, such as 2 degrees, will allow the horse to adapt to

the new condition rather quickly and wont cause an extreme amount of stress on his

tendons and ligaments. Horses want to be active, to move and to live. If the horse was

born with his both front or both back feet clubbed, this is his natural conformation.

As a farrier, there’s no use in thinking that you’re going to be making a great change

for the horse, or that you’re going to make the horse’s feet look normal, because it’ll

probably never happen. The best you can do is to keep the feet at an equal length,

and equal angles and the horse will function to the best of his ability.

Involving Injury:

If the club foot was caused by an injury, only one foot may be affected. This foot

could be either the front or the rear. Shoeing practices in this situation are dependant

upon the severity of the situation. I take what I like to call the “good foot” of the horse,

and I will make that foot’s angle steeper by 2 degrees. I then set the shoe back without

using the toenails, and only using the back three nails. I then cut some of the toe

off of the foot, take 2 degrees of heel off  of the club foot, extend the shoe a ¼ inch

in front of his foot resulting in a closer match on his angles so that his foot is the

same length from toe-to-heel on the ground surface. This will keep the horse breaking

over the same on both feet. Here again, the club foot may never completely change

shape or fill out to look like a normal foot. It is possible, however, to use cosmetic

solutions such as acrylic hoof repair to fill in the shoe area where you’ve extended

the toe. This can make the feet appear to be normal.

 

       A:        Larry Bewley, CMF Oregon

 

First one must understand what happens to a young horse to become Club Footed.

At Oregon State University Veterinary teaching Hospital, we look at and treat anywhere

from 100 to 200 head a year.Rapid growth of the third Metacarpal bones occurs in the first

eight months of life. And is associated with (DDF) contraction of Deep Digital Flexor

Tendon. Mild cases present simply a higher than normal hoof angle, 60 degrees with

the heels high in relation to the toe. In mild cases sometimes just trimming of the

heel will return the hoof angle to normal. In severe cases the foal is unable to place

it’s heel on the ground. And may actually walk on the dorsal hoof wall (the toe) of the hoof.

Radiographs should be taken prior to corrective trimming the hoof.

In severe cases of D.D.F. tendon contraction, a distal check ligaments desmotomy, a

surgical procedure prior to shoeing.

 

1. Trimming to remove as much heel as you can.

 

2. Shoe with a tip shoe and leave the heels open, lower heels every 4 to 5 days with a rasp.

Hand walk 45 minutes a day on a hard surface. So as to stretch the D.D.F.T. and allow heel

to contact the ground. Young horses that have a Check Ligament Desmotomy and shod with a

Tip Shoe will be able to lead a normal life.

       A: Jim Woods, CMF Illinois

What is the right way to trim a club foot?  First, what is a club foot?  My definition is one

of a pair of horses feet that aren’t a pair. One foot is noticeably different from the opposite foot. A club foot is usually smaller and more upright than its’ mate. It will have a tendency to stay that way.  It will resist your efforts to make it match its’ mate.  This is sometimes talked about as the high heel, low heel syndrome.  A club foot is only clubby when compared to a less clubby foot. An upright foot is probably not clubby if its’ mate is  upright, too.

Now that we know what we are talking about, how did the foot get that way. It has

been written that in the northern hemisphere most club feet are on the left side. This

has not been my experience. In the forty five years that I have been shoeing, it seems

a random thing to me. I think a club foot is the result of chronic pain. What about very young horses, or those that were born that way? Who says a baby can’t be sore? 

Human children are born imperfect sometimes. Why not foals?  What if it is an inherited trait. I think the cause of discomfort could be inherited.

If you drop the anvil on your foot you will limp for a while. You will break over more quickly on the sore limb. You will put your toe on the ground so that so that you can use that foot as little as possible. You will leave it on the ground for as short a time as is possible. Your muscle on the sore side will be used less and the muscles on the sound

side will be used more. The sore side will get smaller. One of your hips will become more developed while the sore one will lose muscle. If you were a horse you would develop a club foot. If you look at a clubby horse you will see the difference in muscle development. Stand the animal up straight and look at the shoulders from the front. You will probably

be surprises at what you see.

I have read recently that the prompt treatment of pain in humans is important because if left alone the pain becomes chronic even though the original cause is gone.  I think that horses respond in the same way. My guess is that this probably why club feet are so hard to get to respond to treatment.

After all this, how should you trim a club foot. If the difference is slight to moderate,

don’t try to fix it with trimming to get the same angle. You wont  have much luck. Most clubby animals move pretty well when left alone. The problem will be one of a shorter useful life for the horse. The change of angle puts abnormal stress on the joints and will probably cause some arthritic changes over time. If you trim to improve the appearance of a clubby horse, you will probably make the way he moves worse. The animal knows what feels best better than you or the owner.

As is always the case, your decision as to how to proceed depends on the owner of the horse. You are working for the one who pays the bill. You will lose some customers for doing too much and you will lose some by not doing enough. If it is a good customer who really likes the animal, discuss the problem with her. You should enlist the aid of the veterinarian. It is really a medical problem.

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