RE: RE: Re: Re: club foot

["Kathy Mayeda" <kathy_mayeda@atce.com>]

Okay, since you asked "publically"!

"Blame" it on Diana Thompson - but she gave me a long and expensive
checklist for me to work on.  Took a couple of years of tweaking, and there
was some deviation from what she recommended, but this is what I had to do
to get a straight horse.  Beau had the "high-low" heel syndrome and a
chronic lumbosacral subluxation. This may or not be applicable to your
situation!
1. Had the vet examination for lameness.  Diagnosis: Upward fixation of the
patella.  Prescription:  Uphill trotting to strengthen the quads.
2. Had a farrier/lay chiropractor do some maniuplation and shoe Beau with a
shim.  There is an article in The Whole Horse Journal about what this guy
does for high/low syndrome.  He had a sore butt for a week afterwards, but
once he got over that he was able to pick up a canter up hill which he
hadn't been able to do for some time.  This had done wonders for Beau, but I
ended up not continuing to follow his advice because Beau ended up having
even chest, shoulders and legs over the last year.
3. Massive dental work by the local equine vet (not an equine dentistry
expert, however).
4. Had to change farrier's twice because the first one was 3 hours away, and
the second one was grumpy and Beau would be butt-sore everytime he shod him.
I got a young farrier, just out of farrier school, who was real eager to
please.  Went about four cycles of constant monitoring.  Took off the shim,
trimmed more heel on the high one, let the other one grow out, used wider
web shoes on the hinds.  Finally got it.  Kept on a five week shoeing cycle
for the duration and will continue that cycle just cause that's the way the
rides are lining up for the remainder of the season.
5. Chiropractic work by a DVM.  She also said that he needed dental work -
AGAIN - only two months after it was done by the local vet.
6. Hauled him an hour to get dental work done by a vet who has had some more
training in dental.
7. Tried a lot of different saddles.  He kept on changing shape last year.
I kept on trying creative padding.  None of them worked last year and I
couldn't afford another one, so I wasn't' able to ride him too hard for the
late summer-fall.  But I spent that time with him under long lines and
lunging, doing cavaletti work, Tteam bodywraps (another TWHJ article
explains this).
8. Had chiropractice care for myself.  We were both so communally crooked
that we couldn't tell who was making who more crooked.
9. Had a young girl ride him at a canter.  She's more balanced and lighter
than I am and is fearless.  Gave him more confidence in his own body.
10. I rode another horse while taking Centered Riding lessons.  Therefore I
could better isolate what is my crookedness from the my horses.
11. Learned some stretches, massage techniques, and accupressure from Diana
Thompson and followed up with a very intense massage course this year.
12. The best thing of all was that I purchased a Reactor Panel saddle (after
the money finally rolled in).  It's made a world of difference in the way I
ride and his comfort level.  His topline, which completely wasted away last
year due to conditioning and bad saddlefit, had totally improved within the
first two months I rode with it.  I'm more comfortable in it to, and it
makes me ride in a more correct position.  I received a lot of pressure from
some people I really respect for getting this saddle because they believe in
custom made saddles.  This saddle is pretty much totally adjustable, which
is what I wanted after all the trauma of him changing shape last year.  One
of my friends who already had a custom SR ended up ordering another custom
Andy Foster saddle because her SR ended up not fitting her and her horse it
was fitted for!  I'm not saying that the SR is a bad saddle.  Custom saddles
are just not for me.

Anyway, I don't know what problems you are having with your horse, so the
above may or may not help.  If you could have Diana Thompson evaluate your
horse, you would at least know where to start to look for your own
solutions. She gives clinics all over the US.  I tell you, all the stuff
I've learned over the past few years because of our problems have been
fascinating and makes me a better horseperson.  And I have learned that a
traditional vet is not always the final solution because the stifle issue
never really went away until I did the chiropractic work, too.  I also spent
a lot of time reading books, magazines, cruising the web, etc. for other
pieces of information.  And then trust your gut instincts!






Bore me, please!  I'm looking for ways to help my mare out.  She could be a
nice endurance horse, has the breeding, the attitude, and the athleticism,
if I could be sure she was comfortable and would remain sound.
Kris


-----Original Message-----
From:	Simms, Judith [mailto:JSIMMS@unf.edu]
Sent:	Monday, July 17, 2000 11:00 AM
To:	'Kathy Mayeda'; Jan Mutchler; Kris Hazelbaker; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject:	RE: RE: Re: Re: club foot

Bore me, PLEASE. This seems to be a common problem so I'll encounter it
eventually I'm sure.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kathy Mayeda [mailto:kathy_mayeda@atce.com]
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2000 12:08 PM
To: Jan Mutchler; Kris Hazelbaker; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: RE: Re: Re: club foot


From my experience with my guy's "club foot", I totally agree with you.
There are those out there that I have worked with that say not to change the
angulation of the club foot, but to bring the low heel up to help the horse
even out the chest/shoulders, which means that they should be shimmed for
the rest of their lives!  But a change in farrier for me had achieved enough
change by lowering the club foot heel that I don't need a shim anymore on
his low heel.  It does get into a complex set of problems with body
balance.....  I could be real boring talking about all the stuff I had to do
to get my horse straight!

K.

-----Original Message-----
From:	Jan Mutchler [mailto:jmutchler@h2net.net]
Sent:	Thursday, July 13, 2000 8:32 PM
To:	Kris Hazelbaker; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject:	RC:  Re: Re: club foot

Hi Ridecampers:  This is my humble input on what I have learned about
clubfoot from researching materials, talking to top vets and farriers
experienced in the area and through personal experience.  This is only
my
take on the subject - I certainly am not qualified to debate the topic
to
great length.

Clubfoot can be caused be a variety of different "things", i.e.
hereditary,
nutritional, injury, farrier induced, etc.  There are different degrees
of
severity.  The mildest form may show the longer heel, smaller hoof,
smaller
frog; but not necessarily a rotation of the coffin bone, pressure on the
navicular bone by the DDF tendon, or dishing of the hoof.  As the
condition
becomes more severe, then you see more of the previously mentioned
signs/symptoms.  You will also see the low heel syndrome in the opposite
hoof due to the scissoring effect.

There are different forms of treatment such as from the more traditional
method of taking down the clubfoot heel to a more severe type of
treatment
in cutting the chek ligament to using Natural Balance shoeing
principles,
which would incorporate using wedge pads.  It appears to me (the
layperson)
that any of the above principles can be utilized with success DEPENDING
UPON
each individual situation.

For whatever reason, the clubfoot is trying "to do its own thing".
Which
is, to make a longer heel and a more "compressed" hoof in that it won't
look
as big and full as a normal hoof.  Quite often, the DDF tendon is
stretched
too tight.  My understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is that the DDF
tendon ties into the coffin bone.  When the coffin bone shifts downward,
it
pulls the DDF tendon onto the back of the navicular bone, which causes a
pain syndrome.  To relieve the pain syndrome, you have to trim the hoof
so
that it is balanced and with lower heels.  Then, you place impression
material around the sulci to help encourage the heels to widen.  The
lowering of the heels helps to bring the hoof back into its natural
state,
encouraging blood flow and a healthier growth.  After that you shoe with
a
wedge pad.  Sometimes a frog insert is attached to the outside of the
pad to
help encourage frog growth.  Raising the heels back up via the wedge
releases the DDF tendon off the back of the navicular.  The wedge pad
has to
be high enough to get the hoof landing more normal, which is heel first.
Sometimes the low heeled hoof on the opposite side also needs to be
wedged
to raise that heel.  That would help the shoulders to redevelop more
evenly
and in time help change the scissoring syndrome.

It is also interesting to note that the opposite hoof will sometimes
test
sore when using hoof testers due to the overuse of that leg.  Other
problems
will also show up in the clubfoot horse such as refusing to take the
lead on
the clubfoot, or the horse doing a short step to throw the posting rider
onto the more comfortable diagonal.  Back problems and other spinal
related
problems can also show up.

Anyway, for what its worth, that is my understanding of clubfoot.  Hope
it
helps.
Jan Mutchler
Littleton, CO


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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=