Help/advice needed about "boxy" foot

[hickerybobp]

Hi everybody, this is my first post on here. I have a question about my horse's foot.
I purchased my horse last year but my circumstances changed suddenly so I had to leave her at a full livery yard a long way (over 200miles!) from my house and so haven't seen her for a few months time. Though now I have moved to an equestrian property we will be reuinted soon!
The person caring for her said she has a slightly boxy front foot. Of corse this sent me into a whole spiral of worry!
She is a trakehner cross cleveland bay and she will be turning 3 in June so, as yet has never done any work. I had not noticed any problems with her feet when I bought her. I was wondering if somebody with more experience could have a look at this pic for me and give me opinions/advice. I'd also like to know if this will effect her ridden work in the future or if anything could be done to correct it. Personally I think it looks very mild. The pics were taken by the person currently looking after her, but the ground was a bit uneven.
Thanks everybody

 

[charmeroo]

From what you've Not said I assume that your horse is currently unshod? In which case a good farrier should be able to give you advice. I would suggest that they will easily be able to put your mind at rest and providing they shoe your horse well you should not have any problems. It is a very common problem - as are flat feet in TBs! Take the advice of a good farrier - and follow it!

 

[Meandtheboys]

well 1st look at the piccies do not clearly show a boxy foot, my mare has got one slightly boxy foot and she has never had a days lameness ( now 11yrs )

she sj's, wh, showing etc which never causes an issue - i always remember what my old farrier said about not trying to change the shape as this would possibly cause tendon issues.

 

[LucyPriory]

read this http://www.aanhcp.net/Hoof Wear Patters WORN THIN PART 2 Equine Wellness Magazine.pdf

 

[dotty1]

I had a tb who had one front foot that was smaller than the other and boxy. I had him from the age of 4 to 23 and he never had any problems with that foot.
I can't see anything wrong looking at those photos, they look like neat, trimmed feet.

 

[Oberon]

I am not a huge fan of aggressive correction of boxy hooves.

I have put up this link alot, so forgive me but I feel it is important.

Schoko was shod by a reputable farrier to try and correct his boxy hoof from a young age.

He ended up with navicular because of it. 18 months of remedial farrier did nothing but drain the owner's pocket.

In desperation they asked for my trimmer's number.

He is now totally sound and has beautiful feet.

http://www.progressivehorse.co.uk/html/shoko.html

 

[cptrayes]

I'd add my cautions to the others. Your horse may have developed a different shaped foot to compensate for some lack of straightness in her body.

If you shoe her before you start to work her, then she will not have the chance to grow a different shape foot when you have straightened her body by schooling, so be VERY careful how early you shoe her, if you intend to.

For example, I own an eight year old who was the most one-sided horse I have ever schooled. I bought him unbroken at six, when he was shod to make his feet look equal. Once I got his shoes off, it quickly became clear that he actually had one front foot which had a very off-centre frog. This was caused by his one-sidedness. It was very interesting to watch as he straightened up with schooling how his foot gradually became more symmetric. If he had stayed shod, then the stresses on that leg working with a foot that a farrier in his wisdom had "balanced" for him, but did not match his own wonky body, might have caused him long term problems. As it was, he made his own adjustments a day at a time, to suit what his body needed as it developed.

 

[JenHunt]

my sisters horse has one front foot that is so boxy that it's almost a club foot. He's now 17 and that foot has never caused him problems. The farrier works to keep the heels out and stop them from turning under, and also to try to keep his frog healthy as it cannot touch the ground.

About 5 years ago now, our vet recommended some very aggressive treatment for the front feet which was designed to help alleviate sidebone (due to a conformation fault to be honest, as he's very upright, but not helped by this foot) and I wish we'd not bothered - he was so sore with no front shoes on for a week, in a stable, that my farrier (a fabulous, but somewhat swarthy, mexican guy) almost cried to see him come out of the stable. He has suffered from abcesses in both front feet on and off ever since the affected horn grew out.

My advice is to get your farrier to have a good look, but if you can keep him barefoot it'll probably be better long term. But your photo's don't look like a boxy foot IMO.

 

[JanetGeorge]

The person caring for her said she has a slightly boxy front foot. Of corse this sent me into a whole spiral of worry!

Stop worrying. In my experience of Cleveland Bay/Cleveland Bay x they tend to have a more upright foot than - say - a TB or many Irish Draughts.

I'n not sure which foot is meant to be the 'boxy' one. BOTH front feet seem to be a bit shorter and more upright on the inside than the outside - although there doesn't seem to be any real flare on the outside. It could just be that your youngster is still a little narrow in the chest - which tends to put them on the inside of the foot a bit more so they wear down unevenly.

I would be asking the farrier who trims her to leave as much foot as possible on the inside and just trim the outside, but I think as she fills out that will help correct this VERY minor 'fault'. When she does move on to being shod, the farrier can shoe her a tiny bit wide to the inside which will also help even her up. But from those pics, I wouldn't be worried at this stage.

 

[hickerybobp]

Thanks so much for all the replies and info, It's put my mind at rest a great deal. I think I have a little bit of "new owner syndrome"! As I have never owned my own horse before only ridden other peoples.
When the lady who's yard she is staying at called me and mentioned that she had a slightly boxy foot, I started to worry, and looking it up on the internet did me no favours as I got a lot of horror stories about horses becoming lame over time etc and so many mixed opinions on the best course of action. Some things I read said that it should be addressed straight away by a vet and a farrier, others seemed to say "if its not broke, don't fix it".
I wanted her to start some schooling this year with lots of groundwork. I was going to try and get her feet corrected before I got somebody in to start her training, but now judging by what cptrayes said I think it might help towards evening her out. I actually planned on keeping her barefoot and only considered shoeing after I read that it can sometimes correct the problem.
I have a link to the advert here from when I purchased her last year. She was 2 in the pictures but she is turning 3 in june and has grown quite a lot, as she is now standing at 17hh! It might show more clearly her feet. Though she is very lazy and does like to rest them when standing.
http://www.adhorse.co.uk/horseforsale_36069.html

Thanks again

 

[cptrayes]

The training may well even her out but you should also get a barefoot expert (and my preference here would be for a farrier with WORKING barefoot horses) because at this age your baby is still undeveloped enough for a real expert to adjust her foot to change a slightly less than straight leg, if this is being caused by a leg which twists slightly. This isn't something for a farrier who is wedded to his shoes or a barefoot trimmer who has only trimmed straight and easy horses though, so I hope you can find someone with the right experience to help you. I suspect that if she really is growing a boxy foot it may be for the same reason that my friend's horse grows a boxy foot - one of her shoulders is carried higher than the other, so she needs a longer foot to match her leg lengths up. Training WILL help a lot with that, because a horse's foreleg bones are not attached to the rest of its skeleton by anything solid, just a mass of muscle, tendon and ligament, and that can be changed dramatically by training.

I'm sure you'll have fun with her.


EDIT - OK, I just checked the ad and it's perfectly clear that you bought her with a stacked heel on the near fore and a possible underrun one on the offside. My money is on a shoulder uneveness but you DO need some expert advice before you ask her to do too much work. Don't worry, this isn't a huge issue, but it could become one if her foot stays like that and you start fast and hard work with her as a four year old.

 

[Miss L Toe]

I agree that I would not describe these as boxy, I think you should make sure he is getting a quality feed .. I use Mare and Youngstock by D&H; a big horse will take time to fill out and plenty of field time is recommended. Any good farrier will tell you what is right/wrong about her feet if you ask him, he will recommend what is needed at this stage. I would not rule out shoeing if necessary, but it seems to me that they are pretty short, difficult to tell without seeing her in the flesh, and this would include examination of walk.