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  Discussion on Cracks in club feet common?
Author Message
Member:
Redmare

Posted on Sunday, Sep 5, 2004 - 12:04 am:

This is a question for the Doc- I trim several horses with a club foot and two of them had significant, deep toe cracks. I wonder if the angle of the hoof puts unnatural pressure on that area? I am happy to report that one of the two, thanks to regular proper trimming, good care, and daily exercise (my hypothesis!), no longer has the crack. Unfortunately the other is owned by an absentee owner who called for a trim only when things got really overgrown...

Would also love to see xrays or drawings of bone alignment in club feet.

Funny aside: I pointed out to one client that her mare's "different looking" foot was a club. She replied, "Oh, you can fix it?"
Member:
Rubysmom

Posted on Sunday, Sep 5, 2004 - 12:20 pm:

Redmare, interesting to hear.
My gelding has very mild, (less than grade 1) bilateral front club feet.
My vet during the pre-purchase exam felt that this was not an issue at all, but we got lateral xrays anyway, to have as a "baseline".
He also had very superficial (not deep, like your example) medial cracks straight down the front of the hooves, not just the toe, not only on the fronts but on one of his hind hooves too.
With careful trimming and shoeing every 5 weeks, lot's of excercise, (dressage and trail) and an excellent hoof supplement, they're only slightly visible at the coronet and sometimes at the toe when he's due for a trim/shoe, but not thru the middle.
Both my farrier and vet feel that this is not significant as they are very superficial, but curious me wonders why, if he's perfectly balanced, he's still sporting those cracks, though much improved, they're still there.
His feet look good, and aside from being a bit on the dry side in our arid SoCal climate, they're healthy and strong.
He's perfectly sound, and working beautifully, so maybe it's really not a big deal, lol.
Oh, and I don't have pix, but on the prepurchase xrays, the coffin bone was nicely aligned with the hoof wall, and though his feet were a bit on the "small" side when I got him, now, almost 2 years later, he's taking a #2 shoe as opposed to a #1 shoe when I got him.
Hope this kind of helps in your search for info. regarding club feet and cracks.
IMO, there's got to be some kind of stress or imbalance to cause the cracks in the first place, so you're right about that being an issue in club footed horses.
My guy is a 16.1hh 8 yo TB/Westfalen cross working 5-6 days a week schooling 2nd level dressage and trail riding at least 2-3 times a month on hilly, rocky terrain.
Member:
Redmare

Posted on Sunday, Sep 5, 2004 - 10:21 pm:

Hi Angela- Thanks for the very helpful info. What does grade one mean -- what is the toe angle? When you say crackS plural, I think of dryness, excessive length, and/or flaring, rather than imbalance. I'm also in CA, in the SF Bay Area, and it's been dryyyyyy here for some months. The barefoot horses in work, especially trail riding, round their own toes, while those not in work need frequent rasping to prevent superficial cracking and chipping. Sounds like your boy gets a super workout, but maybe the shoe protection does not allow the natural balancing to occur?
Member:
Rubysmom

Posted on Monday, Sep 6, 2004 - 12:32 am:

Actually, each hoof had ONE thin crack down the middle. LOL, sorry about using plurals.
Grade one in club footedness, (is that a word? LOL), is very mild, though I don't know what amount of toe vs. heel angle would be considered a Grade 1.
My vet assured me it was mild, and truly, until he pointed it out to me in the prepurchase, I did not notice it!
I am usually good about hoof angles, as my first horse had a club foot, and I can usually "pick" up on a clubby foot.
I do truly wish I could have him barefoot, but,
at the end of a 5 week cycle, his shoes are literally PAPER thin at the toes, no resets for my boy! I can't imagine what his feet would look like if he were barefoot , suffice to say, he's got to wear the iron on his feet.
I have pictures of his feet on my cell phone, lol, someday I will figure out how to upload them.

Member:
Redmare

Posted on Monday, Sep 6, 2004 - 2:02 pm:

Hi Angela- Roasting hot here, a rare 90s day ! Pictures on your cell phone, eh? I have good intentions of taking pictures all the time, but I either forget or don't feel like it by the time I'm at the barn.

It's my understanding that a foot is "officially" a club if its toe angle is 60 degrees or higher. There is a cheap, easy to use measuring tool available through Jaime Jackson's web site, https://www.star-ridge.com; it does angle and length.

It's great that you change the shoes every 5 weeks. Many people wait 8 weeks or more, and this is what deforms the foot. But I must say -- and please forgive me for a moment while I froth at the mouth about barefoot -- that metal and hoof horn wear in very different ways. An engineer friend in a similar discussion compared the flexible rubber we normally use for car tires with iron, and noted how quickly iron tires would wear out! Consider that the horse's hoof is not only flexible but growing, and seems to grow more in response to stress.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Sep 6, 2004 - 6:21 pm:

Yes I believe the reason for the toe cracks might well be the extra stress put on the toe of a club foot. The coffin bone in a club foot reflects the position of the hoof capsule: it like the front of the hoof wall, and at the same angle, sits at an abnormally upright angle with relation to the sole and ground.
DrO
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