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  Discussion on Please help with decision to purchase horse w/club foot
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Posted on Friday, Nov 30, 2001 - 7:50 am:

I am new to horses and after several years of searching and many bad experiences with horses, most based on bad opinions of trainers and vets, I finally found a small 6 year old Paint hunter in my price range with an adorabely sweet personality. I went to see and ride him on three different days and he was sturdy and sound and had a canter as smooth as silk. The seller said he had a very mild club foot, (which was barely visible unless you laid on the ground in order to see the dish) and said that he had passed a vet check prior to her purchase of him one year ago. I saw the vet report which said "a left front P-3 coffin bone showed marginal amount of rotation and mild deviation of hoof pastern angle." I felt that he would be serviceably sound for what I intend to do with him...light jumping and pleasure riding provided I kept him shod correctly. However, I took the X-rays to my vet, and he said "NO WAY should you buy this horse! He has a club foot and I won't pass him as sound!" My vet is very experienced but to me, it sounded as if he was just not passing the horse based on the fact that it had a clubfoot and did not take into consideration the severity. If the rotation is marginal and the hoof angle deviation mild, why would the horse not pass? In your article it says that many stay sound under a certain degree; like 72%. Why is there such conflict between vets and what should I do? Should I have my vet take new X-rays and compare to those of one year ago or should I walk away from this horse like the 20 others I have walked away from? Please help as the owner is becoming irritated with me and insists that the horse has never taken a wrong step and that there is NOTHING wrong with him. Thanks! P.S. The horse also passed all navicular, laminitis and hock flexion tests.

Posted on Friday, Nov 30, 2001 - 12:33 pm:

It's funny, my mare (TB) is club-footed. Yet, never noticed it till I switched farriers and he wasn't trimming her properly. Then it became more visible.

My understanding of a club foot is that most TB horses have a degree of club footedness and that it isn't a big deal. The rotation issues though, would be. Dr. O are all club footed horses rotated? Are there any studies that say a club footed horse is more prone to getting navicular or founder more?

Why not get another vet opinion? 2 out of three? I know this is such a hard choice... The cost of the horse is a big factor and I would say the history of him. Can you find out from others besides the owner if the horse shows well? Stuff like that can put your mind at ease.

Like I said I never even saw the club foot on my mare, when I purchased her. I didn't know much back then either. LOL. But I haven't ever had a days problem based on her foot.

Good luck,
jojo

Posted on Friday, Nov 30, 2001 - 4:39 pm:

There are so many things that can go wrong with a “sound” horse, I would NEVER consider buying a horse my vet would not pass. Why would you want to start in the hole? The only way to go is down. His rotation will not improve. Keep looking.

Posted on Friday, Nov 30, 2001 - 6:25 pm:

Molly,

From the sounds of your post, it sounds like the horse you are looking at has had a bout with laminitis which would explain the dish and the rotated coffin bone. In my experience (not a lot) the club foot could be a result of the horse not putting as much pressure on that foot when travelling or standing (as a result of pain from laminitis) and that is why the foot is club. It is the laminitis that would worry me as once a horse has gotten it, it is very apt to get it again, and I would think any jumping would be sure to agrevate this condition.

Jojo, I too have a thoroughbred who has mis-matched feet, one the farrier calls "clubby" but in my opinion it is not so much "clubby" as it just has more heel than the other one.

Posted on Friday, Nov 30, 2001 - 7:05 pm:

Hi all,

I took the x-rays to another vet and he concurred that the bones in the foot did not line up and the angle was so bad that it was almost WORSE than a club foot! Then, shockingly, he said that the other foot was terrible too! He said that the first vet who did the pre-purchase for the current owner and passed the horse must've been looking at a lot of donkeys! I am sad, but relieved in a big way that I did not make another mistake, and I was able to stop payment on my check, too. Thanks to everyone for the help!

Posted on Sunday, Dec 2, 2001 - 12:19 pm:

good advise to us all... get more then one opinion when in doubt..!!~


dres

Posted on Monday, Dec 3, 2001 - 7:36 am:

Hello Molly,
Yes, many horses with a club foot stay sound and there is no argument about this, it is a fact that can be read in any book on lameness and has been demonstrated to me by a number of horses over the years. JoJo no not all are club footed horses have coffin bone rotation within the hoof capsule. Often this occurs when an attempt to make the foof look more like a normal hoof by leaving extra toe. This extra toe flares and a dished appearance to the hoof is created. Personally I think this is less stable than a proper toe length.

"Can a club footed horse can remain sound" is a different question than "should I buy a horse with a club foot' however. Horses with club feet are not as sturdy as those without it and are you willing to take the extra risk. Different horse buyers and vet will answer this question differently and since none of us can see the future one is not neccasarily right or wrong. We all have different adversions to risk.

I do have a problem with the conformation evaluations from the radiographs alone. The problem is that unless the horse is standing absolutely square you cannot say much about conformation. Having the leg advanced or slightly behind the vertical changes the alignemnt. However the hoof wall deformation and rotation present suggest a "stressed foot".
DrO
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