RE: forging/club feet

["Kathy Mayeda" <kathy_mayeda@atce.com>]

My gelding HAD a club foot.  Had his opposite hoof shimmed for high/low
syndrome (a la Tony/Moses Gonzales)  by one farrier, who often acts as
consultants for other farriers.  My horse was going great after that.

But this farrier was 3 hours away and my local farrier started messing
around with the angulation on his club foot.  The shim eventually came off,
because he started to look balanced without the shim.

Had other issues, took a Gait Abnormality class, the instructor/vet
suggested front lateral x-rays to double check angulation because I
expressed concern about the change. X-rays taken a couple of months ago,
they were clean, no angulation problems - almost perfect.  And no club foot.
And no special farrier work, just kept on paring down the "high heel" over
time.  (And chiropractic, dentistry, new saddle and dressage - the high/low
syndrome was just part of the overall balance issues).

I did have to talk my new farrier into using a wider web on the hinds.  He
was a little reluctant to do so because he thought the extra weighting would
cause forging.   On the other hand, I read in a book about horses's backs
(memory lapse here) that wider webs will help the horse use his back more
correctly and that in itself will help the horse move his front legs out of
the way of his hinds.

But it sounded like Beau started forging this last weekend, or we were
hitting a lot of rocks, I don't know!!!!  He never really forged before and
he's still on the same set as we did the 50 with last week without problems.

There were rumors of Bey Shah lines producing club foots, too. (My guy has
no Bey Shah in him.)

After this experience I am more likely to say that even if there is heredity
that might predispose a horse to club foot,  in my horse's case, the club
foot can be managed.  An x-ray of BOTH front legs to compare them would be a
good idea (and in my case cost the same as one.)  At least I'm wasn't
wondering about the way the farrier was dealing with angulation anymore.  It
might take awhile to sort through all the body balance issue related to
this, but it's worth it to get a sound horse.  Believe me, I've been
learning a lot over the past few years about  equine body balance, and it
has FINALLY paid off this year.

Another thing that Diana Thompson told me to look for is to see if the
chest/pectorals are even looking straight on from the front.  If one side is
farther up than the other and/or more or less bulgier than the other, there
may be leg length/club foot issues to look at.  And yes, it is true that the
club foot reflected which leg would be behind in his habitual grazing
stance, which is another thing to note.

And I was happy not having the shim to pay for.  I was always paranoid that
it would cause "red flags" with ride vets.

Good luck!

Kathy Mayeda

-----Original Message-----
From:	Bette Lamore [mailto:woa@stormnet.com]
Sent:	Wednesday, June 07, 2000 2:20 PM
To:	Tivers@aol.com
Cc:	guest@endurance.net; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject:	RC:    forging

Hi Tom
It is not that unusual to have 2 different front feet in Arabs--- lots
of theories--- the way they stand when babies, eating off the ground
with same foot forward, heredity.... Whatever the reason, farriers are
always commenting to me how they have to work with balanced shoeing to
keep same angles.
Michelle Kaplan, the neurokinesiologist who works with the Olympic
horses taught me to watch horses walk from the back to see if one hip
rose higher than the other. If it did, then they was something which we
could work with chiropractically, with neurokinesiology, with TTouch, or
call in the heavy artillery-- vets with their x-rays and ultrasounds.
So far as club feet, same as above. Could be use or just plain heredity.
Real McCoy breeding produced great athletes; unfortunately, the line
also had more than their share of club feet.
Bette (whose own feet are one-half size different--- poor
bloodlines????)

Tivers@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 6/7/00 9:18:55 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> guest@endurance.net writes:
>
> << My arab forges in rough terrain or when he gets overly excited
(like
> during endurance rides!). He does not forge when training or working.
He has
> a club right foot and I keep him on a 6 week schedule. It was
suggested to me
> to use bell boots, unfortunately I found out on the last 50 that the
bell
> boots rubbed his fetlocks raw! Does anyone have any suggestions as to
how the
> forging or the rubbing can be prevented? Thank you. >>
>
> He forges on the left side? That would be my guess.
>
> The right fore is probably clubbed because it is not being used
> hard--something's wrong on that side.
>
> This leaves the left to take up the burden, and the left may dwell on
the
> ground (stance phase)  longer. You can reduce stance in the left by
> shortening or squaring the toe, or by using heavier shoes. However,
all of
> this is treating symptoms rather than the underlying problem. I'd
x-ray that
> right foot, seeking a longer term solution.
>
> ti
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
> Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

--
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of 16.2hh TLA Halynov
(yes, REALLY!)
http://www.arabiansporthorse.com


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=