problems caused by conformation faults

Gloi said:
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My beastie's front legs have some deviation at the knee, making him a bit knock kneed. This causes him to plait a bit and wear the outside wall of his feet a lot more than the inside which has caused a lot of problems with shoes wearing out really quickly. I have him booted or barefoot now and his feet have adapted to some extent putting down thicker walls on the outside.
Although it looks like it would cause problems he's been regularly ridden for over 20 years now and has never had any lameness that wasn't caused by fighting or standing on nails. He's 25 now and still fit as a flea.
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Its funny isnt it how some are just fine. He must be a tough one!
 
hopo said:
Its funny isnt it how some are just fine. He must be a tough one!
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Tough as old boots but used to drive me mad going through shoes in 3 weeks. I'm really glad that boots are so much better these days. I can swap them from one foot to the other so they wear evenly. He did the Mary Towneley loop last summer, no problem, so he's not doing too bad. I was a bit worried it might be a bit much at his age but he loved it and set off stronger each day.
 
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Gloi said:
Tough as old boots but used to drive me mad going through shoes in 3 weeks. I'm really glad that boots are so much better these days. I can swap them from one foot to the other so they wear evenly.
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Gotta say, i am a fan of barefoot ...(Unless horse really needs shoes for problem etc) but lets not go into that one! Lol ;) iv not used boots before though
 
hopo said:
Gotta say, i am a fan of barefoot ...(Unless horse really needs shoes for problem etc) but lets not go into that one! Lol ;) iv not used boots before though
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Because he wears his feet unevenly he's fine ridden barefoot on roads at a walk but if I do much trotting they start wearing too fast on the outsides. I boot him if I know it's going to be a longer or faster ride and then he has no problems, up to five or six miles mainly walking rides he's fine bare.
 
Looks more extreme in those pics but we wouldn't stand square and I didn't have my keys to the tack room so no headcollar to direct him to pose for me :D
 
Gloi said:
Because he wears his feet unevenly he's fine ridden barefoot on roads at a walk but if I do much trotting they start wearing too fast on the outsides. I boot him if I know it's going to be a longer or faster ride and then he has no problems, up to five or six miles mainly walking rides he's fine bare.
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I see, that makes sence. Do you have to buy new boots often?
 
hopo said:
I see, that makes sence. Do you have to buy new boots often?
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I use Easyboot Epics and they last me about 6-9 months. I do try and get them second hand though when I can to save money. There's often ones for sale that look like they've hardly been worn.
 
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hopo said:
What happened with the pidgeon toed ones. Was it very minor pidgeon toe? The low neck one, is that because she had trouble holding herself up and wanted to be more on the forehand? When you say croup high, do you mean higher than withers? And why? Thanks!
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One had one turn in toe he suffered problems in his feet .
The other got ringbone very young we could not get her sound she was PTS at six .
The low necked one went to three star eventing and was very very talented but it was hard for her to show a pleasing neck postion in the dressage ( she was also very hot which didnot help ) she had the most amazingly perfect limb conformation I think I have ever seen .
She did a lot of work in her life and retired sound .
Croup high Is top of bum higher than wither .
 
Yeah I had to skip out anyway and feed the sheep.

I prefer barefoot but he's happier in shoes and doesn't cope well with roadwork barefoot. I'm not keen because of the added stress on his ligaments but he was getting foot sore. I don't know why I've not tried boots I think I might in the future.
 
I like my boots, taking shoes off has really helped his feet. You just have to find the best boots for your horse which sometimes takes a bit of trial and error.
 
Gloi said:
I use Easyboot Epics and they last me about 6-9 months. I do try and get them second hand though when I can to save money. There's often ones for sale that look like they've hardly been worn.
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I thought theyd last years but compared to shoes thats good.
 
Goldenstar said:
One had one turn in toe he suffered problems in his feet .
The other got ringbone very young we could not get her sound she was PTS at six .
The low necked one went to three star eventing and was very very talented but it was hard for her to show a pleasing neck postion in the dressage ( she was also very hot which didnot help ) she had the most amazingly perfect limb conformation I think I have ever seen .
She did a lot of work in her life and retired sound .
Croup high Is top of bum higher than wither .
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Thats sad poor girl. Ok i see. And i saw a pic other day of a really croup high horse, looked like it was going downhill!
 
EffyCorsten said:
Yeah I had to skip out anyway and feed the sheep.

I prefer barefoot but he's happier in shoes and doesn't cope well with roadwork barefoot. I'm not keen because of the added stress on his ligaments but he was getting foot sore. I don't know why I've not tried boots I think I might in the future.
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Hehe...If he prefers them and is happier in shoes then better shoes! Its awquard though the foot needs one thing, the leg another! Gotta be a way. Boots could be good if you dont like shoeing. I prefer not to shoe either. Like you say, stress on the legs and i dont think its natural the hoof not touching floor not circulaiting blood... Gone into that too much! I think sometimes its just the done thing, but i think some horses need them for whatever reasons. :)
 
I think attitude is more important than conformation, especially for low level riding club stuff. So long as they are symmetrical I wouldn't worry too much, if one leg is twisted, that's when issues arise.

My tb is built very downhill, it does make basic dressage harder for him than a horse who is a natural uphill mover, but I think it can be overcome :) Look at the top eventers, a lot of them have interesting conformation!
 
"Good conformation" has been proved over the centuries to be best for long term soundness. That doesn't mean that a horse with perfect conformation will always stay sound! But the chances are better.

A pony will always be "sounder" (if that is a word) than a horse, due to its proportions. My horse is slightly back at the knee and a bit pigeon-toed, which is one reason I have never hunted him because he would be prone to strains. Some people would never buy a horse back at the knee, but I saw a Vere Philips demo and he was assessing young event horses and overall, didn't mind too much.
I had one vet who would never pass a horse for eventing, hunting etc. if it had pigeon-toes, yet you sometimes see them still gong strong well into old age. One of the best pony club eventers around had terrible cow hocks.
 
Orange, Yeah thats basically it, i dont want too many problems or lameness! Although knowing horses that doesnt matter theyll find a way to hurt themselves lol :D pigeon, i suppose it all depends what you want it for. And attitude is definitly important too!
 
hopo said:
Orange, Yeah thats basically it, i dont want too many problems or lameness! Although knowing horses that doesnt matter theyll find a way to hurt themselves lol :D pigeon, i suppose it all depends what you want it for. And attitude is definitly important too!
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My TB is a beauiful horse conformation wise .
He has however managed to get some great things wrong with him that are nothing to do with conformation .
Hopo when you find the key to the finding the trouble free horse please let us know .
 
Goldenstar said:
My TB is a beauiful horse conformation wise .
He has however managed to get some great things wrong with him that are nothing to do with conformation .
Hopo when you find the key to the finding the trouble free horse please let us know .
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I have a tb like that! Conformationally great but he has just about severed his heart out of his body, struck into a front fetlock requiring a joint flush and then he kicked his hind fetlock with his clumsy great big foot and knocked a hole in the tendon! It's his ruddy clumsy back feet that cause all of his problems lol!
 
I do think that for many of us, a horse with some conformational faults is not the end of the world as most of us do not do enough to put an average, healthy horse (even with poor conformation) at risk of injury.
*Sweeping Statement Here* Problems tend to arise when people buy horses with a hard working history and do not look closely enough at conformation and how the past work could have affected the horse, and any likely injury.
I think people are also not totally honest with themselves in that whilst right now they might only want to hack, but in a few years, might want to jump, and find that little niggles or injuries come up then despite the horse being sound for X years hacking out.
Management is also part of how sound a horse is going to be- a perfectly shaped horse with poor management will likely not stay sound, but a conformational nightmare with correct management* for the horse could stay sound.
Horses with some conformational faults are perhaps suited to different jobs, but there is no reason for them not to remain sound unless the fault is severe, and the owner/rider will have to make the decision to make that change with the horse, PTS, or sell/loan.
*be this barefoot, shod, living in/out, diet, feet longer/shorter than they should be, movement and exercise.
 
My tb is straight hocked and was diagnosed with PSD at 5, he has not raced or been in full training.

My tb mares front knee went whilst galloping, she was slightly pigeon toed and had slightly weak front leg conformation.

One of the hunt horses had a twist from the fetlock to the pastern and was on and off lame from about 5 or 6. Don't know what happened to him, poss went off to be a light hack.

One of my hunters was an ex point to pointer, wasn't very sound and struggled with soundness in training, his front legs were bowed when viewed from the front, had an old tendon injury too.
 
Goldenstar said:
My TB is a beauiful horse conformation wise .
He has however managed to get some great things wrong with him that are nothing to do with conformation .
Hopo when you find the key to the finding the trouble free horse please let us know .
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haha oh yeah ill let you know when i find it. Does such a thing exist!? ;)
 
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