New horse pigeon toed

[melandjazz]

i brought my horse about 2 months ago, and rode her preivously for half a year before.
Shes quite pigeoned toed and wondered weather if she would develop problems from jumping or too much strain?

She doesnt seem to be effected and has jumped 1.20 loose schooling but only about 2ft ridden as to been green. all im looking for to get out of her is to have a little go at everything as shes my first horse.

she also seems to be ever so slightly bum high.

Shes 6 years and 14.3 welsh x and is also barefoot.

 

[baily]

we have a lovely 16.2hh ex-eventer...and has done a fab job going to 3* and doing really well...dressage never been his strong point not because of his foot but his attitude!!
He won the eventers gold cup with michael wittaker and jumps 1.40 for fun....!!
there is no reason it should effect him unless it is so bad it effects other structures up and down the legs...if it was really bad wouldn't you have questioned it and vetting would have warned about before you brought him..

 

[duggan]

As above, no reason why it should affect him unless you want to do high class showing! Do be careful with shoeing though, don't let your farrier try to correct his feet if they are happy that way, lots of problems can pop up if you try and balance an unperfect foot and legs in a perfect way.....
Have fun with her!

 

[riding_high]

i had an ex racer (hurdler) a few years ago and she was pigeon toed, it never affected her when she raced or when she became a happy hack!
she was however kept barefoot all her life, she even raced barefoot with no problems.

 

[AndySpooner]

As above, no reason why it should affect him unless you want to do high class showing! Do be careful with shoeing though, don't let your farrier try to correct his feet if they are happy that way, lots of problems can pop up if you try and balance an unperfect foot and legs in a perfect way.....
Have fun with her!

Agree with this, don't be tempted to try and correct this as it causes much more severe problems further up.

 

[Spyda]

Mine's inclined to go pideon toed but she is bilaterally bench-kneed. She's 3 and unbacked but I do anticipate some trouble down the line from her conformational fault. Splints at the very least

 

[Biscuit]

This is a conformation fault... but no horse is perfect. I had a pony in the past, who was very slightly pigeon toed in front, who jumped rather big tracks and lived to late 20s, never lame.

It is hard to say whether it may affect your horse - in particular without having seen photos. Did you have her vetted prior to purchase? If not, and you are concerned, perhaps you can ask the vet next time they come out to vaccinate your horse whether they think it is a problem.

Anyway, at 6 years old it is too late to try to correct anything so just enjoy your horse and don't worry too much about it.

 

[Lollii]

My horse is pigeon toed, he has no problems at all with soundness, but a friend who rides him for me says the reason he is stiff on his right rein could be because his right foot has the worse turn in.

I'm not sure about that though.

 

[melandjazz]

Thank you.

Heres a photo although it doesnt really show up that well.

 

[SouthWestWhippet]

My pony is slightly pigeon toed as well, more so than Jazz by the look of the picture.

He is sound as anything and has been jumping 4' with his loan-home rider. He's also barefoot (as you may know... LOL)

I always mention it to whoever trims him and make sure that I use a farrier who I trust to take their time and do a good job.

 

[Lucinda_x]

My mum's lippizaner is slightly pigeon toed and its shown no effect on her or her ability to jump. She turned 6 this year and is jumping 80 tracks at the moment.

 

[MochaDun]

My 14.1 native cob x is slightly pigeon toed - only when standing though, had vet check him and he's totally straight in his action. You only notice his offside fore is pigeon toed when you lift his leg to pick out his hoof. However first insurance company I had excluded his front legs from any problem caused by being pigeon toed (think maybe slightly more risk of throwing a splint?). Not all insurance companies will do that though.

 

[JenHunt]

Ron is slightly pigeon toed, more so in his near fore than the off fore. He's now about 17 and has done nothing but hunt most of his life. He's sound and well and never shown any problems. i personally wouldn't worry about it!