Would you buy a horse with flat feet?

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Gracie21

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Would you buy a horse with flat front feet?
Horse is otherwise ideal, moves straight and well balanced. Apparently has never been lame with current owner, has hunted for 4 seasons with no issues.
Would be used as a general PC horse and local showjumping/ODEs.

Coke and left over Chinese on offer! :)
 
No through past experience. Had flat footed tb always had abscesses couldnt go barefoot as would act lame big softy. Also had a arabxwelsh flat footed got abscesses and still does to this day but I know longer own him and he was on a mostly fibre diet and barefoot. Flat footed is bad conformation so ideally when you are looking at a horse's conformation you would start with the hooves and no hooves no horse. But if he really is the perfect horse then go ahead but be aware.
 
I bought my horse then the farrier told me he had flat feet and an abscess, well the start of one (cleared in 24 hours).
He's been lame twice, neither time I've known 100% why but not been a big issue. He's just very sore when barefoot.. Very uncomfortable standing while farrier takes off shoe before replacing it.
In your position I would still buy if he is ideal every other way :)
 
Yes. The only thing picked up at my boy's vetting was slightly flat front feet. Found him by word of mouth and fully trust owners when they say he has never been lame. Conformation otherwise excellent. I absolutely love him, he moves well, and with good farriery the vet felt it was unlikely to be an issue.
 
No after the experiences weve just had. Elementary dressage horse intermittent lameness for over a year vets visits remedial farriery and still not a 100'% whether we will ever keep him sound enough to compete again.
 
My TB had flat feet. He doesn't anymore. It's not a conformation issue - as kallibear says, it's fixable through diet and stimulation. (He's barefoot)
 
Flat feet is due to diet so of course I would buy. It's like saying no because the horse has an insect bite.
 
Yep again mostly a dietary and exercise issue. My cob x came from Ireland 6 months a go with rubbish feet but had his fronts off , regular trims, riding over different terrains and a low sugar diet and they're now looking great . My other cob has various metabolic type issues and his feet have always been flat but the main difference for him was very limited grass in spring / summer and balanced vitamins and minerals. They're now looking alot better but this has been a longer process.

I would say though with my coloured cob it's been very frustrating at times and expensive at times so not necessarily an easy fix. Good luck with whatever you decide :)
 
No from previous experience it cost me a fortune in shoes and the winter was a nightmare trying to keep him sound. He had lots of abscesses and hated being in. It maybe a diet issue but if you need the help of a decent farrier as well.
 
It might not be a feed issue, but rotated pedal bones.

I have a pony we bought three years ago with flat feet and thought she was just like the TBs I had had. It turned out she has bad rotation and now costs £95 to shoe every six weeks.

Surprisingly we have had little lameness until recently when another farrier was over keen with paring the sole. We now have a remedial farrier who shoes her with bar shoes and pads. Like someone else above, she cannot bear to stand unshod while being shod so he does one foot at a time.

Her feet are getting better with some concavity, but she needs a good surface to work on and can't cope with stones at all. Retirement beckons. She has been perfect in every other way however, but if I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have bought her.
 
Mostly rotated pedal bones are are a dietary issue, TBs are surprisingly sensitive to sugars.
A horse that struggles to stand on an unshod foot whilst waiting for a new shoe to be fitted has unhealthy feet.

OP - it seems there are 2 schools of thought on this, those that stick to convention and have remedial shoes, pads etc.. And those that have experienced the effects of a diet change on feet. (And before anyone gets their knickers in a twist I'm not debating whether one is right or wrong. )
I think the question is which train of thought you follow.
 
Flatter than this one?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4xRQ_EewtyQ/TjMoVkLo71I/AAAAAAAAAt0/KB-4mdTCuFU/s320/17SEP006.JPG

This horse concaved up with work with no shoes on. He was one of those horses who could not stand to be shod with the other foot bare, so was done one at a time.



Flat feet are almost always a diet (possibly worsened by metabolic disease) and stimulation issue.

High fibre, low sugar, balanced minerals, happy gut (yeast, for mine) is almost always the answer.
 
maggiesmum said:
OP - it seems there are 2 schools of thought on this, those that stick to convention and have remedial shoes, pads etc.. And those that have experienced the effects of a diet change on feet. (And before anyone gets their knickers in a twist I'm not debating whether one is right or wrong. )
I think the question is which train of thought you follow.
Click to expand...

Indeed! Well well summed up, thank you :) I know what he's fed and I don't think it's doing him any favours, so I'm thinking that it would be worth a shot given the price he's up at!
 
Just to state the obvious but have a think where the pedal bone is in a flat footed horse. Imo you will need to improve the situation whichever route you take. Factor that into your decision.
 
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