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Club Feet and Bent Legs
by David Farmilo
Accredited Master Farrier, Oakbank SA
PH 0418 835 186
www.horsefarrier.com.au
Club Feet and Bent Legs in foals are an agonising problem for
all concerned.
What is the difference?
A Club Foot is one that is high in the heels and short in the
toe causing a broken back hoof/pastern angle when viewed from
the side. A percentage of club feet is hereditary, while others
result from overweight mares during pregnancy which restricts
the foal’s development space in the womb or from lack of
early trimming.
Bent Legs are viewed from the front and can be either bow legged
or splay footed.
This can be caused by hereditary offset canon bone or pastern
or, if these are straight,
unbalanced feet due to lack of early trimming.
In both situations, it is my belief that unless previous foals
from the blood line have a history of growing out of the problem
or have been successfully straightened by either veterinarian
or farrier intervention, it is not wise to continue breeding from
that line.
History has shown that if we start off a young horse with inherent
lower-leg problems, it creates a never ending risk of unsoundness,
which usually occurs when the horse is at the peak of its performance.
They may be kept sound for a short career by good farrier or veterinary
attention but is this really fair on the horse?
Overweight mares producing foals with bent legs nearly always
straighten naturally once on the ground after a short period of
time. Despite our efforts, care should be taken to regularly inspect
the foal’s lower leg hoof alignment, say weekly, for the
first two or three months of its life, as things can still go
wrong.
As the foal’s hoof begins to harden and the ground dries
out, the foal’s body weight increases at the same time and
wear on the tiny hoof begins. Often, just as this tiny hoof capsule
begins to grow any length, one side breaks away. This creates
an uneven hoof which unless corrected quickly, will start to turn
the foal’s lower leg either inwards or outwards.
Correction may be simply a matter of trimming the hoof wall back
to level again. Viewed from its front, the rule is that if the
foal is pointing his toe in, trim the inside edge. If his toe
is pointing out, trim the outside edge; if he is standing too
upright, trim the heels, or if he is standing down on his heels,
trim the toe.
With a club foot, if veterinary assistance in the first couple
of weeks has not corrected this problem of restricted tendons,
the problems are likely to be ongoing, and will require weekly
visits by the farrier to try lowering the heels for the first
6 months of the foal’s life. If this hereditary, rehabilitation
to normal is a lost cause.
With Bent Legs there is also another likely scenario. If upon
inspection you find his toes pointing in but you have no hoof
wall to remove inside, the foal must be fitted with an extension
to the outside of the hoof. An extended shoe on such an immature
hoof will be very hard to keep on (a hoof this young is not ready
to be nailed). Also, a nailed on shoe is going to cause restriction
to the rapidly developing and expanding young hoof,
Over the past few years, many farriers have been using synthetic
hoof materials to achieve these corrective measures with a great
degree of success. Bonding quickly to the hoof wall without the
need for shoes or nails, these synthetic materials can be used
to extend the hoof wall in any direction and do not impede the
natural development of the hoof and the extension can be reduced
in size as the leg straightens.
Bond-N-Flex structural hoof material is one such product. It
is very reliable and user friendly and also is cost effective
for its owners. It is very important to thoroughly clean the hoof
wall with acetone and a wire brush before application to achieve
the best bonding capacity. Once bonded, the synthetic material
will grow down with the hoof wall and can be trimmed and rasped
the same as a normal hoof wall.
Stud owners and breeders have now realised the importance of
correcting bent legs in their foals as early as possible. Prices
at yearling sales reflect this as well as extending the competitive
life of their valuable stock.
It is imperative to thoroughly inspect every foal daily for the
first 3weeks after birth and not be blasé about any imperfection.
You have spent all this time and effort to breed the foal –
why waste it.
If you have any doubts at all, email me and arrange an immediate
on-line consultation. Have 2 digital photos on hand for my diagnosis.
Time is of the essence!
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