Studies have shown there’s a 98% chance most horses feet are pigeon toed. This fact puts the horse at risk of lameness due to instabilities in its gait or motion and way of travel. Farrier textbooks suggest and define perfect conformation as feet, cannon bone and knees pointing straight ahead. Since 98% of horses are afflicted with less than perfect conformation the question then becomes how to understand what are the results of conformation defects and what to do about them to prevent lameness.

Pigeon toed horses are the most common. In this condition the horse is not “breaking over” directly dead center of his foot. In fact examination of the horses shoe will reveal an uneven wear pattern that will not be directly center of the shoe. Very similar to the way the heels of your shoe show wear either off to one side or the other or dead center. A closer examination of the dynamic loads happening to a pigeon toed horse reveals the foot to be out of balance and having very poor support to the outside of the foot resulting in twist within the joints .

All these issues not only put the horse at serious risk of lameness due to joint stresses but when a foot breaks over at the side as mentioned in the pigeon toed case as the foot finally comes off the ground during walking or running the foot will “Wing Out” creating an interference with the rear leg as it comes forward. The rear leg travels forward on the outside of the front leg but if the front is winging out there will be a collision of the two on occasion. Interference is the lesser of the two evils in regards to lameness. Since you have now identified some problems it’s a matter of what to do about a fix.

Unfortunately conventional wisdom of how to fix these conditions is faulted and will only produce more problems. Industry standard textbooks for horseshoeing are missing the big picture therefore giving improper correction methods. Left untreated and uncared for your horse will remain at risk of lameness.

There is a correct preventative method however; it’s just an obscure method the industry has not yet caught on to. It does not involve twisting of joints or costly padding of the feet with wedge pads or any of the other quick fix methods. Instead it’s an application of correct science related to dynamics and growth patterns and stimulating hoof growth where needed. You may find the exact information on how to care for these horse related issues by visiting the website below listed in the author bio.

Safe riding and remember to Care4Horses.