Mild medial-lateral foot imbalance

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LankyDoodle

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This is written on my boy's vet report. We bought him nearly 6 years ago. He'd been badly treated and was lacking suppleness etc. The vet stated that this really was not a reason not to buy as it was very mild.

Since our mare died 12 days ago, I've gone into hyperdrive with everything, looking through vetting reports etc, checking his levels of soundness, examining feet thoroughly morning and night etc. I've noticed when lunging him that particularly when walking, his toe hits the ground before the rest of the foot. It's not so much a case of the outside toe hitting first and the inside heel hitting last as is most common in foot imbalances, but his whole foot doesn't hit the ground at once.

I'm not particularly concerned at the moment - let's face it, it's taken me 6 years to notice this! But I am interested to hear if anyone else's horse has this and how it affects them? George can be very imbalanced in canter and sometimes trot, motorbikes on the right rein, but is also generally quirky (naughty) so I always attributed it to that. I've had his teeth and back done regularly, he's trimmed regularly as well. He has a little lump on his spine just behind where the saddle sits, but again, it's always been there and the back person has never raised this as an issue. He comes up sound but like I said, I am interested to know how this could be affecting him.
 
Medial lateral imbalance is common. Some are foot imbalances (and can be sorted by good shoeing) others are proper conformational asymmetry - changing that can actually MAKE them lame.

But in terms of foot placement they SHOULD be landing heel first, rolling the weight across the foot and breaking over at the toe.

Walking heel first is one of the indicators barefoot-ers use to access correct foot use. Over-use of heel is a sign of lami but they should land heel first. When they're walking on the flat, it can be barely noticable but it becames noticeable on a downwards slope. Almost all horses land toe first going uphill though.

Landing determindly toe first is a sign of heel pain. Often because of contracted heels (most shod horses have contracted heels to some extent) but can be because of underrun heels, over-long or crushed bars, bad thrush etc. Anything that makes the heel area sore. It is also an indiaction of navicular (although 'Navicular Syndrom' is really just an euphomism for 'heel pain of some description' )
 
Having been through lots of vet visits / farrier visits for the lame loan horse, we determined that some of her problems stemmed from the fact that she lands differently on each front foot - she lands toe first and rolls to the outside on one and lands heel first on the other.

If you're worried about it then have a chat with your farrier next time he's out to shoe him - if it's a noticeable problem then it might be worth investigating further.
 
Thank you to all three of you. As far as I am aware, he's always done this, but it's not something I have watched under a telescope for the last 6 years. My farrier is not due til 2nd September, but the yard we are on holiday on has a farrier who we are friendly with. I might have a word with him.

Thanks everyone.
 
I noticed my horse was putting his toe down first and was slightly lame after shoeing.

He wore his shoes down unevenly.

He was lame, had x-rays and he had a medial/lateral foot imbalance and side bone and has shoes which are thin at one end, gradually getting thicker as they go round. He has also had 2 grooves cut into the hoof wall just under the side bone to absorb impact, he also has slightly bigger shoes than before to support the heels.

Since shoeing, he has been comfortable and walking properly not toe first.

I can understand you being concerned, but speak to your farrier next time and see what he says. Maybe something straightforward could improve this.

Hope you are ok, Carrie.
 
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