Would you buy a horse with a foot like this...

I would not touch it with a bargepole.

The foot is not weightbearing, turns out from the knee, the leg is too upright in the pastern and it looks as though it has ringbone.
 
He's had an abscess in that foot which had broken out of the coronary band (see the black line near the bottom of the hoof. I suspect that is the reason for the hoof being squared off as it grew down. Did you ask about it?
 
The first thing that would worry me is that the farrier has not shod them as a pair. I was taught on the basis what you do with one leg you must do with the other ie if you need to bandage one you bandage the other too.
 
holeymoley said:
The first thing that would worry me is that the farrier has not shod them as a pair. I was taught on the basis what you do with one leg you must do with the other ie if you need to bandage one you bandage the other too.
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This is not true if the legs are not the same though! Not every lower limb deformity is bilateral and, while it's pretty commonly accepted that horses with matched legs, even if they aren't perfect are more likely to stay sound, if the horse is not equal then one of the worst things one can do is make them look that way.

Horses with unilateral limb deformities, injuries etc quite often grow mismatched feet when they are left barefoot and trimmed sympathetically and are perfectly sound on them.
 
holeymoley said:
The first thing that would worry me is that the farrier has not shod them as a pair. I was taught on the basis what you do with one leg you must do with the other ie if you need to bandage one you bandage the other too.
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Sorry, but I disagree with this - one of mine has a very boxy fore foot from an injury as a youngster and it's imperative that it's NOT shod as the other side. My farrier allows the foot to form it's now natural shape but maintains it as sympathetically as possible and with careful regard to the hoof's inclination to grow too much heel. The other 3 hooves are shod as normal and shoe wear is even across all 4.

OP - My horse is sound and passed a vetting (wanted for SJ up to 1.20 odd), and (touch wood!!) it's not caused a problem so far, so if the horse you're looking at ticks all the other boxes, I'd ask for a little more information, get a full vetting and maybe a couple of x-rays if you'd like some more reassurance. It also very much depends on what job you want him/her for!
 
frannieuk said:
Sorry, but I disagree with this - one of mine has a very boxy fore foot from an injury as a youngster and it's imperative that it's NOT shod as the other side. My farrier allows the foot to form it's now natural shape but maintains it as sympathetically as possible and with careful regard to the hoof's inclination to grow too much heel. The other 3 hooves are shod as normal and shoe wear is even across all 4.

OP - My horse is sound and passed a vetting (wanted for SJ up to 1.20 odd), and (touch wood!!) it's not caused a problem so far, so if the horse you're looking at ticks all the other boxes, I'd ask for a little more information, get a full vetting and maybe a couple of x-rays if you'd like some more reassurance. It also very much depends on what job you want him/her for!
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I agree with this. My late mare had one front foot that was boxy. Until she had a terrible injury in the field at 16 years old, she never had a day lame in eleven years of owning her. She was the soundest horse I ever had. Sadly, she later got laminitis but it was nothing to do with having odd feet.
 
Wagtail said:
He's had an abscess in that foot which had broken out of the coronary band (see the black line near the bottom of the hoof. I suspect that is the reason for the hoof being squared off as it grew down. Did you ask about it?
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Yes it was asked about-
It was a bar shoe being used to help support the foot while the heel grew down after the abscess had taken away a chunk of the foot the squaring off was to help give extra balance to the foot so it didn't have a small area to put pressure on but a larger one to disperse it evenly to accommodate the missing hoof. That was as much info that was given really. The horse is sound but does also dish on that same foot.
 
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This horse would have to have something extremely special to make me consider it .
I don't think I would bother with a farrier I would need the opinion of a really ggod equine foot specialist .
It appears to me in the photos the horse is not loading the damaged foot evenly if this is so even if the story about the abbcess is true June till now is time for all sorts of other issues to be started off by the uneven loading if the horse has been worked like that.
 
EquestrianFairy said:
Yes it was asked about-
It was a bar shoe being used to help support the foot while the heel grew down after the abscess had taken away a chunk of the foot the squaring off was to help give extra balance to the foot so it didn't have a small area to put pressure on but a larger one to disperse it evenly to accommodate the missing hoof. That was as much info that was given really. The horse is sound but does also dish on that same foot.
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Sorry that makes no sense. You can't reduce pressure per square inch by reducing the number of square inches the foot is in contact with the ground for. The chopping off of that toe is extreme.

I would not pay for the horse until it has a complete new foot in an ordinary shoe, but my gut feeling from those photos, which can be deceptive, is that the abscess is not the only issue with that foot. If the horse appears sound it would be very interesting to block out the other front foot and see if it is still sound then.

Why is it for sale now? Why can they not give it a couple of months to get back into a standard shoe before they sell it?
 
Another one who wouldn't touch it with a barge pole I'm afraid.

Why buy a problem!?

EquestrianFairy said:
Story:

She had an access which blew out at the bottom of the foot and took a chunk out- it's hard to tell from the side photo but that's what I was trying to show (mud isn't helping) she has a bar shoe on now to support the foot. Horse is sound.

It rang alarm bells with me, why is the foot so boxy for a start? Bad farriery? Horse isn't up for cheap either!
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The foot should still be balanced (it doesn't look it) and although the feet shouldn't necessarily be shod the same, they should be shod in a way that allows the horse to move with the same action as the other side. From these pictures I honestly don't see how the horse can be truly level.

I think the farriery is shocking too, having quarter clips on the front should not mean that the foot it so badly 'dumped' as that one is.

I wouldn't even negotiate on price here I'm afraid - I wouldn't want it given.
 
cptrayes said:
Why is it for sale now? Why can they not give it a couple of months to get back into a standard shoe before they sell it?
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This is an excellent question to really consider, a not too cheap really nice type why wouldn't they just hang on to him over the winter and sell in the spring with a pair of front feet - currently they will put lots of buyers / vets off now with him as he is, makes no sence to just wait if the story is true.
 
TarrSteps said:
This is not true if the legs are not the same though! Not every lower limb deformity is bilateral and, while it's pretty commonly accepted that horses with matched legs, even if they aren't perfect are more likely to stay sound, if the horse is not equal then one of the worst things one can do is make them look that way.

Horses with unilateral limb deformities, injuries etc quite often grow mismatched feet when they are left barefoot and trimmed sympathetically and are perfectly sound on them.
Click to expand...



frannieuk said:
Sorry, but I disagree with this - one of mine has a very boxy fore foot from an injury as a youngster and it's imperative that it's NOT shod as the other side. My farrier allows the foot to form it's now natural shape but maintains it as sympathetically as possible and with careful regard to the hoof's inclination to grow too much heel. The other 3 hooves are shod as normal and shoe wear is even across all 4.

OP - My horse is sound and passed a vetting (wanted for SJ up to 1.20 odd), and (touch wood!!) it's not caused a problem so far, so if the horse you're looking at ticks all the other boxes, I'd ask for a little more information, get a full vetting and maybe a couple of x-rays if you'd like some more reassurance. It also very much depends on what job you want him/her for!
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You learn something new every day :)
 
cptrayes said:
Sorry that makes no sense. You can't reduce pressure per square inch by reducing the number of square inches the foot is in contact with the ground for. The chopping off of that toe is extreme.

I would not pay for the horse until it has a complete new foot in an ordinary shoe, but my gut feeling from those photos, which can be deceptive, is that the abscess is not the only issue with that foot. If the horse appears sound it would be very interesting to block out the other front foot and see if it is still sound then.

Why is it for sale now? Why can they not give it a couple of months to get back into a standard shoe before they sell it?
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I believe they need the money due to unforeseen personal circumstances and the horse is an expense that can extract some money. It's not cheap so it would add some funds to the pot if they got the price they are asking for.
Maybe time is tight? I really don't know why they aren't waiting any longer. Horse has only been in current home since March and has done quite a bit in that time as far as I'm aware.
 
Does the horse always stand like that? If you asked him to walk on and then halt, would he always stop with the OF slightly in front of the NF?

Is it mud on the coronet, or is that related to the abscess? If it's to do with the abscess I would have expected it to have grown down far more since the abscess occurred a few months ago.

If the toe hadn't been dumped, it would be long, plus the heel is under-run. Are you certain that he's not wearing a bar shoe due to navicular rather than the abscess?

The brushing boots are very damaged. Does he brush?

Is the lump on the pastern just a wave in the fur, or is there a lump under the skin?
 
EquestrianFairy said:
I believe they need the money due to unforeseen personal circumstances and the horse is an expense that can extract some money. It's not cheap so it would add some funds to the pot if they got the price they are asking for.
Maybe time is tight? I really don't know why they aren't waiting any longer. Horse has only been in current home since March and has done quite a bit in that time as far as I'm aware.
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You have just answered your own question. They have had him 8 months and paid a lot for him at purchase. He is not sound. Just look at his stance in those three pictures, that alone should ring alarm bells, assuming you are experienced in looking at horses. The shape of the pastern should also catch your eye.
 
Faracat said:
Does the horse always stand like that? If you asked him to walk on and then halt, would he always stop with the OF slightly in front of the NF?

Is it mud on the coronet, or is that related to the abscess? If it's to do with the abscess I would have expected it to have grown down far more since the abscess occurred a few months ago.

If the toe hadn't been dumped, it would be long, plus the heel is under-run. Are you certain that he's not wearing a bar shoe due to navicular rather than the abscess?

The brushing boots are very damaged. Does he brush?

Is the lump on the pastern just a wave in the fur, or is there a lump under the skin?
Click to expand...


All of this. My suspicion is that they are rushing to get this horse sold while they have a valid excuse for it to be wearing a bar shoe, and that there is another problem in that foot apart from the abscess.

I would not even have it vetted until it's back in an ordinary shoe, and not then unless that produces a better pastern angle and that lumpy pastern is proved to be shadows or raised hair.
 
Very wise. Would still be curious to find out the back story to those legs and feet, but we will never know now.

My farrier's assistant was praising the conformation of my cob's feet, he said that if he was presented to a candidate for the final farriery exams they would think all their Christmases had come at once! Just imagine a poor candidate faced with the mare featured in the photos.......
 
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