by Ralph Casey

We first evaluate the horse in order to determine the cause of the Club Foot as in the drawing. When genetics is the determining factor, the horse will be born with the condition and can affect only one foot (as in photo 1) or 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 combination of over nutrition and lack of exercise in young growing horses is another common cause of a Club Foot. The proper shoeing method for a Club Foot depends on its’ cause.

Photo 1

 

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

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, should be done prior to shoeing.

Our 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. We 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 won’t 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.

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.

In photo 2, this 4 year old mares club foot is not considered severe and we suspect was not genetic, but due to an earlier injury.

Photo 2

What we do is take what we call the “good foot” of the horse, and prepare that foots angle steeper by 2 degrees. We then set the shoe back without using the toe nails, and only use the back three nails. We 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 in less severe cases, to use cosmetic solutions such as acrylic hoof repair  (as in photo 3) to fill in the shoe area where you’ve extended the toe. This can make the feet appear to be normal as in photo 4.

 As is always the case, the farriers decision as how to proceed depends on the owner of the horse. Photo 5, as in this case, this 3 year old Arabian has been a pet since birth and will continue to be for life. This is the horse with the severe club foot in photo 1.

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

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