club foot

["BE" <betndez@budget.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: shelton <dshelton@cyberhighway.net>
>I've heard the theory that a horse that continually scissors his front legs
>with the same foot back while grazing can cause one foot to become clubby.

Yes, Dez is such a horse.  Until I moved to a location where I could see him
grazing all day I didn't realize that he always extended the same front foot
as he grazed.  He also has underdeveloped muscles in the same shoulder.  I
have been told by a vet that this is from neurological damage.  I've had
this horse all his life and I recall his taking a hard fall on that shoulder
on pavement when just a few months old so I'm now assuming that the whole
shoulder, foot, "low back" on that side syndrome is a result of that early
injury.

Dez is now 17 and has over 4000 endurance miles on him so it hasn't slowed
him down much but I do believe it has made his job harder.  And I regret
that I didn't recognize the injury at the time and give appropriate
treatment, whatever it might have been.

Betty Edgar