 |
Re: [RC] club foot - big deal? - heidiMy horse Rocky has a club foot. He's got about a 5 degree difference, and for most of his 7000+ miles (and still going) career he has had a wedgepad on the other foot (it's underslung and is really worse than the club foot). One really has to question whether this is truly a "club foot." If the foot is normally shaped and the OTHER foot needs a wedge, then it is NOT a club foot--it is a normal foot opposite an underslung heel. The horse that Marlene described also does not fit the definition of a true club foot--she mentioned in her post that the "high" foot was normally shaped. On one hand, a true "club foot" is misshapen and has definite abnormalities to the coffin bone. Once you've seen a few, you can't miss them. But they are more rare than people would think, given all the discussion of "club feet." On the other hand, "high-low syndrome" (in which the feet are normal but one is at a steeper angle than the other) is pretty common. Horses have a preferred side, just as people do, and when they are confined in small spaces with inadequate hoof care, I daresay that the majority of horses (particularly young ones who have not yet had opportunity to develop both sides, either by running out in the open or by being ridden) will have one foot that becomes a bit steeper than the other, and in many cases, the difference can be quite extreme. High-low syndrome, left unchecked for long periods of time, CAN eventually LEAD to a true club foot, as the difference becomes extreme and forces begin to exert changes on the coffin bone. But most cases can be solved by trimming, and most cases will eventually grow normally if the horse is either turned out in the open where he spends more time actually traveling evenly or if he is ridden on a regular basis. And many will begin to grow evenly with no more change than regular trimming. And Karen is on the right track here when she says that the underslung heel on the hoof that requires a wedge is "more of a problem" than what she is calling a club foot--the failure to grow a proper heel is a whole nuther problem, Karen is handling it the right way, and by doing so, she is likely preventing her horse from truly having a club foot on the other side. Had Rocky simply been turned out in a 16 x 16 pen all of his life with no hoof care, there is a good chance he would have eventually developed a club foot on his "high" side, since the underslung heel will cause a horse to land harder on that heel and break over more quickly on the "good" side, eventually dubbing off the toe and causing the heel to build up on that side. Left unchecked, this continual "walking on the toe" of the coffin bone WILL cause irreversible boney changes that result in a truly clubbed foot. I hope this helps people to understand the difference and the process... Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|