Pigeon Toed

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missshell

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Have just received a vetting report on the horse im wanting to buy....vet has said he is very pigeon toed especially on his left. I have spoken to the vet and he didnt seem concerned and has passed him for the vetting.

Any thoughts?
 
Ron is pigeon toed on his front left too... I was always taught that pigeon toed is better than turned outwards. sometimes the farrier can help to improve it, or can at least shoe them to support the foot but stop it looking so turned in.

If your vet is satisfied that hes fit for purpose then I wouldn't worry.
 
Depends on what you want to do with the horse.

It may cause a problem for showing and depending on the severity, could alter the stride on one rein, making it noticeable to judges e.t.c.

I personally wouldn't buy a horse that was pigeoned toed. There are plenty of horses out there for reasonable money that haven't got any problems.

I went to see a lovely stunning dressage horse for reasonable money, but had a boxy front foot. I walked away :( but now have a super horse!
 
Depends on the severity of the pigeon toed - and what you want to do with him as well!

Sometimes can cause extra strain on the supporting & functional parts of the limbs (ligaments, tendons, etc), but if not doing anything majorly tough on their limbs (e.g. racing, polo!) then shouldn't be an issue - and saying that some really "wonky" horses have managed successful careers (e.g. the filly "Attraction" in racing was overlooked at the sales for her legs, but won Group 1's!)

But the vet would of passed him fit for purpose - so if you trust him then go with it.
 
My horse is pigeon toed (not very severely - most people don't notice unless I tell them).

He was brought on slowly as a youngster, with care taken to develop strength and balance at every stage of his training to avoid strain on his joints. He has never been asked to move faster than a walk on hard ground in his life. He has always been shod at least every 6 weeks, usually every 5, by an excellent farrier. I focused primarily on flatwork with him, and some light jumping for fun.

A year ago, when he was rising 16, he was diagnosed with arthritis in his front fetlocks and coffin joints. The vet says this is congenital, exacerbated by the conformation of his front feet. My horse of a lifetime who I spent my teenage years nurturing and hoped to be riding into his twenties and beyond is now a field ornament, and without steroid injections every six months he is about 3/10 lame.

Would I exchange him for any other horse in the world? Not in a million years. Would I ever buy a horse with an obvious conformational fault again? Not in a million years.

As asterid says, there are horses out there with no problems. Why store up trouble for yourself further down the line?
 
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