Pidgeon toed, help please

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samstar

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We went to view a horse yesterday, all was good but he was very pidgeon toed.
If i was to have him, i would like to do some dressage on him and some local shows.
Would being pidgeon toed affect where he got placed and some of the movements in dressage?
Any extra information would be appreciated
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Samstars daughter x
 
hi, my horse was picked up as slightly pidgeon toed, although vet still passed him. we are currently doing novice level dressage, with good marks, and bsja showjumping, so i def wouldn't worry. i got a good farrier who has a good look, but tends to leave as they are. good luk
 
wouldnt worry for dressage but i think showing would be different, but if your not doing it seriously like county level then i wouldnt worry to much if it passes the vetting.
 
For what you want to do I think a pidgeon toed horse wouldn't have too many problems. However, I wouldn't buy such a horse for higher level activities purely due to the higher risk of injury and strain. Having a lame/not lame/lame horse means that I personally would be very careful about buying a horse with confirmational faults but that's just my opinion.
 
I have a 'pidg'!! he is fine, he is 10 now, and I have never had any problems with him, in fact he looks quite cute!

We do dressage, and we hunt, he has really good strong legs.
 
Why buy a horse with a problem you can see? They are so cheap at the moment I'd buy one that's straight. A pigeon toed horse will be at more risk of tendon and joint problems than a straight one.
 
Is he pidgeon toed in his action as well as standing SS? Mine is slightly pigeon toed when standing but totally straight in his action. I don't know how such things impact on dressage and shows. One thing I found however though was as my horse's bilateral pedalism was mentioned on his vetting, one insurance company I was with previously excluded his front legs for any conditions which might arise from that, eg, splints which I think they can be more prone to if are pigeon toed. Having said that my horse has never had any problems so far but that might just be as his toe in is slight and only when standing. Although I didn't pursue it, my vet was happy to assess him and write to insurance company in order that I could get the exclusion lifted on my insurance policy.
 
I would speak to my vet re any potential problems due to the pigeon toes. I have know a few horses with pigeon toes which have not had any soundness issues - one is a 15 year old eventer - but your vet will be able to assess if there are any other conformational issues.

In my experience you will not be marked down in dressage. I have seen horses that dish quite badly score well when everything else is good.
 
I had a mare on loan with a very obvious pigeon toe. She passed her vetting fine, has never been lame because of it and is 16 now. She was used in a riding school and I did a lot of local dressage, showjumping, fun rides etc and she was fine. My friend currently also has a pigeon toed horse and is aiming at high level endurance! A pigeon toe would definitely not put me off. But have a talk with your vet anyway.
 
I would steer clear personally although it does depend upon the horse sometimes a toed in horse can be problem free however other times they can end up like mine......lame every year and arthritic by the age of 6!! She is also not excessively toed in however she does also have a slightly offset cannon and is fairly upright so sufferes a lot of concussion injuries. If you get this horse you will need to think carefully how to plan its work. Personally I would take the risk again if the horse had enough excellent points to make up for it but it could create some real issues. I would also want to know that the horse had seen a farrier regularly and that the feet have been well balanced. You won't be able to change the confo and you shouldn't try to however careful farriery is key to keeping the horse as sound/balanced as possible. Does the horse move straight??
 
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Not sure what sort of impact it would have on your dressage scores.

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I was talking to a BD dressage judge the other day about the impact of conformation/movement defects (dishing, etc.) and apparently they DON'T get penalised as long as the work is correct.

Slight pidgeon toes wouldn't worry me too much - DON'T let the farrier try to straighten it up - just keep the foot balanced. While you can do some correction on very young horses for this problem, if you try extreme measures on an older horse, you WILL risk sending it lame!
 
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