pigeon toed?

[riding_high]

i know there have been a few topics over the years with regards to pigeon toed horses but was wondering if anyone knew of anything more recent so to speak.

my pony is VERY slightly pigeon toed on the off side front and from time to time he will have a kind of stumble but almost always with that leg. is there a connection to the 2 or could it be something else. he is alot better after a trim and my farrier is great with sorting his feet out after he has come back from being on loan which didn't help. he had shoes on while on loan but was only shod every 9 or 10 weeks and feel that the farrier used fitted the feet to shoe rather than other way round (if that makes sense) and now my farrier is left to sort out his feet.
after speaking to my vet it has been agreed to try and get his feet sorted first and if problem persists then investigate.

so can pigeon toes make horses stumble and even make it difficult for them to work in a straight line with the rear end?

 

[Behati]

My pony was pigeon toed. He would occasionally stumble but i never noticed any patterns really, I did wonder if it was because of his toes though. The farrior was great with him, but eventually the inside of his hooves would grow bending inwards and he would be a bit less stable as it continued. I had shoes put on his front ones (The front ones were his pigeon toed ones) and after that he never had any problems. I did prefer shoeless out of personal preference but shoeing seemed to make dudley a bit better on his feet so I just stuck with it. He did get a bit lame once pre having shoes on but I was not sure if it was a direct result of his pigeon toes. box rest made him better really. He was a connemara so maybe his breed had something to do with his hardiness. There has never been any problems other than that one lameness. His toes: http://tinypic.com/r/6tntaa/8

 

[mega spoilt ponies]

My young warmblood is really quite pigeon toed on his left fore with a pronounced swimming action at trot! He came to me with long feet in poor shape /balance - after having x-rays done i have found some wear and tear to that fetlock as a result of the inward turn causing more pressure.

He is now shod with toes back and heel support to control the flaring and cannot go longer than 4weeks between shoeing or his feet look like dinner plates and he forges.

Ive not noticed any stumbling issues- my concern is how that fetlock is going to hold up in the long term (it will depend where the rotation comes from on your ned - how low down it starts). Regular farriery is really important imo

 

[Behati]

Yeah, keeping on top of farriery for horses with feet and leg problems is really prio. Also worth having the vet out if you notice anything or even just an annual visit to double check it. The sooner you catch something the more likely it can be resolved. You can't risk a thing with horses legs, or well horses everythings! Expensive creatures but worth every penny

 

[misskk88]

My first horse was quite severely pigeon toed in both front feet. If I knew how to attach photos I would! I have known him over 7 years now and he has never had an issue with lameness, tripping, stumbling or been sick and sorry in his life. I guess it may affect some horses and not others depending on overall conformation, movement and how the shape of them affect the overall strain on the legs/muscles etc.

A good farrier does help and good to keep on top of feet and any changes with vet if your horse is prone to stumbling or issues due to the feet.

 

[JillA]

My horse is apparently badly pigeon toed

(you should have seen his dam, so bad she was never broken) but actually he has an enormously wide chest and if he stands with his feet apart the same width as the top of his legs they are pretty straight. However he has never been able to cope with the concussion of roadwork, when he was first broken he began napping really badly and it turned out he was bilaterally lame from it. He has been on a basic glucosamine + MSM supplement ever since and only works on a surface - even on a field you can feel his reluctance