Toed in....

T

taraj

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 September 2009
Messages
370
Visit site
Would a horse that "Toed in" slightly on one foreleg put you off? Is there anything that can be done to improve this? Be interesting to know anyone's experiences. TIA
 
You cannot change the leg conformation. I have a slightly toed in horse and it has made no difference to anything for low level competing.
 
According to my vet it can be improved with good farriery. My welsh cob was slightly toed in and it did improve with time and wasn't a problem. I mainly hacked though and didn't do anything fancy.
 
Thanks for your answers so far, it would just be for low level competitions so hopefully shouldn't be a problem.
 
I would like to think I was a 'Good farrier' and the last thing I would try and do was change any toe-in action.
Before I started doing 100% barefoot, I did however always support the action, as you tend to get different angles on the med. and lat. walls
 
It would put me off totally, the cost of purchase is minimal compared to all the work you need to put in to a young horse.

1] it is a significant conformation fault, a weakness in conformation is a weakness, I like four good legs and feet. Having said that, a slight dishing is not as bad as the other way round, but it does not "please the eye"

2] if it is very slight, it could possibly have been sorted when it was very young, so it may not have been looked after when it was important, yes this is a bit damning, but when purchasing you need to reject the oddities and select the best

3] you cannot ever show it successfully.

4] it will put people off purchasing it if you want sell it later.
 
Last edited:
I have forgiven two horses mild toe in conformation and bought them , both went lame as a direct result of the fault , I won't be going there again .
 
Merlin11 said:
According to my vet it can be improved with good farriery. My welsh cob was slightly toed in and it did improve with time and wasn't a problem. I mainly hacked though and didn't do anything fancy.
Click to expand...

On a growing youngster improvement but not one that has finished growing. Farriery can improve outward appearance on full grown but not conformation.
 
mega spoilt ponies said:
I have found that it depends where the inward turn starts- whether the legs are straight and it is just the hoof) or whether the 'twist' starts higher up
Click to expand...

A slight twist on the hoof is not "toed in", but even then it should be picked up by regular farriery checks. I did buy a horse with a very slight twist in the hoof, so slight I did not see it till I got in to barefoot horses, he was shod from age four to five, and was something a farrier gets all the time, and adjusts accordingly, it was only when my farrier realised I was interested in feet that he discussed it with me, no show judge or vet would have picked it up on him when shod.

I used to chat to a dealer who only used a particular farrier business, he explained to me that most of his horses would be vetted, and a good farrier would help with nearly all horses. Occasionally he bought a few horses [part ex] because they had been spun by a vet, yet by schooling and shoeing, they passed a five stage vetting. In some cases farriery is critical.
 
Last edited:
Hmm doesn't sound good then. I have known this horse from a yearling and I know he always used to move straight and has been bought up correctly. He done very well in hand showing as a youngster. Have only noticed the toeing in since he has been shod as a 4 year old, would this of made a difference? (sorry not very good when it comes to feet)
 
I understand your interest as he sounds the right type.
One would expect that farrier would shoe to "balance" as much as is possible, so that it should look better [as farrier posted earlier it is not possible or advisable to try to "straighten" the leg]. I don't know why this has become more obvious, if you are not particularly leg oriented, I assume it must be fairly obvious.
Others may comment.
 
Last edited:
I have a toe in mare who when she was very bad with laminitis her pedal bones also rotated sideways, it meant it took a lot longer for recovery and the vets didn't think for a while she would recover at all. Has put me off them in the future slightly
 
taraj said:
Hmm doesn't sound good then. I have known this horse from a yearling and I know he always used to move straight and has been bought up correctly. He done very well in hand showing as a youngster. Have only noticed the toeing in since he has been shod as a 4 year old, would this of made a difference? (sorry not very good when it comes to feet)
Click to expand...

Last summer I bought a horse that was severely pigeon toed. I whipped his shoes off, got him working barefoot and now it's barely noticeable.
 
taraj said:
Hmm doesn't sound good then. I have known this horse from a yearling and I know he always used to move straight and has been bought up correctly. He done very well in hand showing as a youngster. Have only noticed the toeing in since he has been shod as a 4 year old, would this of made a difference? (sorry not very good when it comes to feet)
Click to expand...

I expect the shoes will be your problem then as he can't grow his foot to even out the imbalance. I should think that if shoes were removed it would be less noticeable
 
My granddaughters pony is very pigeon toed or in toed. Didn't know it at the time as had just had the farrier before we got him. We have a fantastic farrier who over time with shoeing his legs appear straight, as soon as this shoes are taken off his feet turn in. We wouldn't have got him if we had know because it limits him in the show ring but we love him so much and just except him as he is, as he is very good with my granddaughter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top