Correcting Gait Problems – My Own

by David Farmilo
Accredited Master Farrier, Oakbank SA
PH 0418 835 186
www.horsefarrier.com.au

About 25 years ago I was involved in a tractor accident which broke a few bones in my left hoof, sorry, foot. Through lack of attention the bones then healed crookedly, which caused me to walk crookedly, and late last year the discomfort caused me to seek out medical attention and get some expert farrier attention to my own gait problems.

I had half of one toe removed, and the distorted bone trimmed on another toe, which left me lame for a short time. The surgeon had pre-empted any optimistic ideas I had of shoeing horses in the interim, and had bandaged the foot so heavily that I was unable to wear any shoe, and I was forbidden to remove the bandage for 10 days. Being a problem solver, and not being prepared to sit around inside for 10 days, I took it upon myself to wear an orthopaedic boot for a while. This seemed like a great idea in theory, and was infinitely preferable to crutches.

However, the practicality of it was a little less perfect, as the boot had a rocker toe built into the sole, with a square toe. This was all sounding far too familiar with my ongoing battles against square toed horseshoes on horses. After 3 days of persevering with the orthopaedic boot, I realised that by night time when I took the boot off, I had no calf muscles functioning, and after 3 days in the boot my left calf muscle was deteriorating and would not support me.

On examining the boot, I found that it had a rolled toe to take the stress off the foot, and this had the effect of totally altering the gait. Every time I stepped forward with my left leg, the boot hit the ground then pushed the leg back, making it difficult to remain totally vertical. Attempting to stand from a sitting position had some hilarious results that I won’t elaborate on further.

The end result was not only impacting on my calf muscles and preventing them from working, but also resulting in shoulder and neck pain and headaches. Not to mention a deteriorating attitude to cap it all off, just like a horse that is uncomfortable and suffering pain. I reckon if I had dared look at myself in the mirror, I would have had a ‘bad eye’ too. Anne will testify that I wasn’t worth persevering with, and I guess I’m just lucky she didn’t have me put down.

I abandoned the boot and defiantly had the foot redressed so I could fit it into a lightweight normal shoe then learnt to walk lightly on the foot, while putting up with the localised pain which was far preferable to the neck and shoulder pain from the boot. As soon as I was wearing a normal shoe, which allowed me to have a normal gait, the recuperation was really fast.

In a parallel with horseshoeing, I feel there is a lesson to be learned here. The orthopaedic boot is invaluable for major orthopaedic rehabilitation but it is not suitable for normal function. If those people who are using alternative horseshoeing methods (those which rely on anything other than the standard simple natural shape of the horses hoof) wore an orthopaedic boot with a square toe and a rolled sole for a day or two, I am sure they would re-evaluate what they are doing to their horses and what pain they are putting them through.