So if a horse lands toe first... how do you solve the problem...

[wench]

Following posts about this earlier on in the week... if the horse is landing incorrectly on a flat surface, how do you solve the problem.

I am getting a gait analysis done on my horse at the weekend... will be interesting to see what it shows.

 

[Scarlett]

You have to know why they are doing it.

Mine did it through poor foot balance, I dealt with that by taking shoes off and having a good trimmer come in. Problem solved...!

 

[Wagtail]

The horse here that does it, it seems due to pain elsewhere in his body.

 

[TwoStroke]

One of the most common causes is heel pain, which can be down to thrush or just general wasting of the caudal hoof (making it too weak to receive the brunt of the horse's weight on landing). Thrush can be treated with topical sprays or ointments. A weak caudal hoof must be developed through stimulation. There are of course other causes, such as those mentioned above.

 

[chestnut cob]

My last horse (older horse with some arthritic issues) did it when he was shod in standard shoes with toe clips. Changed farriers and the new one shod him with Natural Balance shoes which stopped it immediately. Later on he stopped using the NBs and went for plain rolled toes; also fine in those. We did try him in "normal" front shoes with toe clips again once but he reverted straight back to landing toe first so something about them just didn't suit him. He was also OK with side clips, but best in NB types.

In the case of that horse, farrier said it was because the NB/ rolled toes allowed him to breakover wherever he liked. He tended to walk slightly on the outside of his front feet and rolled over on the outside, rather than walking completely straight. He had ringbone and this was obviously how found it easiest to walk. The toe clips seemed to stop him from doing this and forced him to walk more straight, so he was short and landing toe first. NBs shoes = landing heel first and generally much freer.

 

[philamena]

This is an interesting one, and I'll offer my rookie observations!

My girl had her shoes off for the first time just a fortnight ago, and has been landing toe first more obviously than she was in shoes - which made me panic. The wise and sensible people on the Phoenix barefoot forum very gently told me to calm down saying she'd get better with gentle work as she begins to reactivate the back part of her hoof so that it can do its job. Two weeks in and she's now landing flat about 75% of the time But the interesting observation I made the other day is, that when I walked her in her equi ami (she's just started very light work in it as is coming back into work after rehab for back muscle issues) on exactly the same tarmac surface, when she was working properly across the back she was clearly landing heel first. This got me thinking about the effect of the rest of the locomotion on landing. I don't know any more than that, I just thought it was interesting and clearly indicative of some things wiser people will know about biomechanics.

Another observation was that a friend's horse who's been on box rest for almost a year with
seriously done tendons was walking very markedly toe first because the healing and the lack of movement has "tightened him up" up the back of the leg, as it were. Owner hadn't noticed but got vet to check who agreed and they've put him in some (temporary!) special shoes just to get him started moving gently about within his range of comfort but without pushing or straining things.

 

[wench]

Well it will be interesting to see what happens with the gait analysis on my horse... not had any hinds on for a long time, and just the fronts that are being taken off

 

[shadowboy]

Does anyone have a video clip of toe first landing to see how different it looks compared to heal first

 

[JVB]

Does anyone have a video clip of toe first landing to see how different it looks compared to heal first

this is quite good-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7C9G6lvZfE

 

[Kat]

Try this for some before and after video clips Rockley

 

[shadowboy]

Thanks folks will have a good look at how my boy walks now...