clubfoot and lameness

[lupinfarm]

Today we went down to bot worm Luna and noticed she seemed lame, at first i thought colic or founder...normal gut sounds, normal pooing, normal everything, also she showed no real signs of founder. She seemed very stiff and lame, i thought it was her back legs at first, she did a huge sliding stop the other day and she had some blood on her hoof but i figured out that was actually from a bug bite because she hasn't let me near her to spray her (today she did, so now she's on a fly spray scheduale). As she walked she seemed unable balance, and upon closer inspection it looks to me like she may have a clubfoot on her front left, high heel and very upright whereas her right is normal.


Essentially, my actual question is .. does a clubfoot if left untreated or unnoticed create a considerable amount of pain in the joints? thus rendering the horse lame/stiff.

i'm calling the farrier as i type this hoping to push her appointment so we can get her in this weekend. i should also add that she's been lethargic but i'm right now putting on the fact that she's been getting bitten to death out there by flies, skeeters, horse flies, etc. because she wouldn't let me fly spray her. now she's fly sprayed she should get some rest from the bugs. could lethargy also be attributed to the clubfoot and extra work getting around?

 

[freemotion]

Yes, clubfoot will lead to lameness and eventually stumbling. It needs treatment....you can get good results sometimes from having the hoof trimmed every three weeks or so. I had a dressage horse with a slight club foot that was maintained on this schedule for ten years in full work. She ultimately tore a check ligament and after two years of trying to rehab her, even for walking trail rides, I finally retired her. (She fell while I was riding her.....FOUR TIMES!!!......I can be pretty dense, sometimes....

The other leg and foot will be prone to injury due compensating for the club foot. If she is in work, the hind limbs will become affected, too, due to compensating and also "matching" the stride of the diagonal pairing....so the right hind will shorten stride and suffer the consequences.

Don't mean to sound all gloom and doom, but this is an abnormality that needs constant attention for successful treatment. I forget who Luna is....sorry.....youngster? Horse in work? Pet?

 

[big brown horse]

I have a horse with two (front) club feet and they turn out like a ballet dancer to boot! (All of my horses have issues, as they were rejects of some stupid people.) Anyway he gets trimmed naturally and after his first three natural trims, every two weeks, his hoof angle started to look normal. Now you can't tell. He does need to be trimmed more than my other two, but that is o.k. because I'm a certified farrier, and I do it (the maintainance) myself! (Going to take the barefoot training soon.)

Shadow was my "extreme trail horse" for a couple of years and is as sure footed as a billy goat. I worry about his ballet stance more than the club footedness. Try going to a "natural barefoot" trained farrier. (Not knocking shoes, BTW.)

If it is a young horse (under 6 months, 4 would be better) you might have better luck.

 

[big brown horse]

If it is the beginning stages of founder she will look like she is trying to stay off of her front toes. (Imagine where a horse's toes would be. ) Her body is set back behind her legs. Legs out front, leaning back onto her back legs.

If you suspect founder, I have a trick until the farrier gets there. Duct tape tennis balls under her hooves at the tip of the frog, if she will let you. Usually it gives them relief, acting like a "heart bar" shoe.

If you suspect founder I would go with a natural barefoot farrier too. I've seen success first hand with a VERY bad case of founder. The wall of the hooves had to be removed!! They grew back slowly and now the horse is in riding condition.

Oh, and I didn't really answer your first question...yes the horse will develope lameness (as free said) due to untreated club feet.

 

[lupinfarm]

Thanks guys! She has the classic scissor stance of clubfoot, she holds the longer hoof mid body ... she's out and about walking now but now i think we've found out why she won't lead anymore, she just CAN'T walk properly! i didn't even notice it before and she was underweight when we rescued her. i called our farrier but she hasn't called back and i'd like her to be trimmed this saturday so i'm going to call a local corrective trimmer as well for this time and have him fill our farrier in next time. we've had a horse with clubfoot before and it just required that foot to be trimmed more than the others and he corrected it fantastically. with our other horse we also didnt notice it because she was frightfully thin and i suspect that no attention to this foot was what lead to Luna's weight loss at her previous owners...that's what happened to Smoothie our TB ex-broodie a few years ago.

Anyway, like i said she hasn't got the stance of a founder horse, our guy Pal foundered several times and colicked and she has none of those symptoms so i'm not overly worried now, lets just fix the problem! i'm putting electrolytes in her water tonight because she hasn't been getting to the water as much because of the foot.

i cannot believe that i didnt notice the scissor stance of clubfoot earlier, it just completely passed by me.

 

[lupinfarm]

Yes, clubfoot will lead to lameness and eventually stumbling. It needs treatment....you can get good results sometimes from having the hoof trimmed every three weeks or so. I had a dressage horse with a slight club foot that was maintained on this schedule for ten years in full work. She ultimately tore a check ligament and after two years of trying to rehab her, even for walking trail rides, I finally retired her. (She fell while I was riding her.....FOUR TIMES!!!......I can be pretty dense, sometimes....

The other leg and foot will be prone to injury due compensating for the club foot. If she is in work, the hind limbs will become affected, too, due to compensating and also "matching" the stride of the diagonal pairing....so the right hind will shorten stride and suffer the consequences.

Don't mean to sound all gloom and doom, but this is an abnormality that needs constant attention for successful treatment. I forget who Luna is....sorry.....youngster? Horse in work? Pet?

Right now she is a pasture pet but she will be going into light work by the end of the summer. We've had great success with a previous clubfoot horse so we are getting a farrier out this weekend to look at it and corrective trim for us/suggest shoes or whatever it takes to fix/moniter the condition. Luna is an 8 year old 14hh 1/4 Horse X mare.

 

[big brown horse]

Horses can develop a club foot from sustaining an injury. The toe will contract. So she may not have had it when you first got her.

If not trimmed correctly it will strain tendons etc. Also if trimmed too severely, she will go lame too. Gradual and frequent trimming is what I recommend until her hoof is angled correctly. Gradual is important. You can rub her leggos with liniment before bed and not stalling her will help too. I have wrapped legs for support during times like this, waiting for the farrier, and then after if it is a "corrective" trim. Never too safe with a horse.

Good luck with her..she is a her isnt she? Your farrier will know what to do. Natural Barefoot or Traditional, I'm sure she will be fine. I've used both for my guy, who looks like he has on elevator shoes if he misses a trim.

 

[freemotion]

I forgot that BBH is a farrier! Great input!

 

[lupinfarm]

Horses can develop a club foot from sustaining an injury. The toe will contract. So she may not have had it when you first got her.

If not trimmed correctly it will strain tendons etc. Also if trimmed too severely, she will go lame too. Gradual and frequent trimming is what I recommend until her hoof is angled correctly. Gradual is important. You can rub her leggos with liniment before bed and not stalling her will help too. I have wrapped legs for support during times like this, waiting for the farrier, and then after if it is a "corrective" trim. Never too safe with a horse.

Good luck with her..she is a her isnt she? Your farrier will know what to do. Natural Barefoot or Traditional, I'm sure she will be fine. I've used both for my guy, who looks like he has on elevator shoes if he misses a trim.

Thanks BBH, the farrier is out tomorrow afternoon to look at her, and we had thought to pick up some liniment so I'll do that tomorrow. She's out on pasture 24/7 so she has lots of room to move in and after I sprayed her down with fly spray she seemed to perk up a lot and doesn't seem lethargic at all anymore ... I think the flies/biting insects were REALLY bothering her. Pat suggested on BYC that it might not be clubfoot but after looking at her more she does have that scissor stance that clubfoot horses have, where they alleviate the weight on that foot and equal it out.

She went out to pasture after I sprayed her so I'm less worried now and she's not going bonkers over the insects anymore. Thanks again for your advice!

Sorry also! ... I didn't clue into it before but I believe she has always had it... She has stood in the scissor position for as long as we've had her. I suppose it IS possible she was injured and that caused it way back when, it wouldn't be the end of the world. She's more or less a pasture ornament right now.

 

[lupinfarm]

UPDATE

Farrier came out, Luna has hotness around the coronet on her affected foot, farrier trimmed and says it looks like high/low on the foot front but there is something underlying that is causing the pain and hotness, possible abscess or bruising ... we're monitoring her at the moment, linimented the foot and will ice bathing it tomorrow to bring down the swelling a bit. she'll be seeing the farrier hopefully late next week for an opinion. She's perkier now but does have problems walking because she doesn't want to put pressure on it. I'll let you guys know what happens.