CLUB FOOT, HIGH AND UNEVEN HEELS HINDER YOUR HORSE'S PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT

© by Gordon Adair

The right heel is higher
then the left

You don't walk or run with one flat heel and the other a high heel shoe. What would you think the different heights do to your back when you are just standing? Then your athletic performance would be unspeakable. 

The horse's power and energy of movement derives from the ground via the the hoof mechanism. An unbalanced hoof (the nail) can cause the hoof mechanism to become inactive, compromising your horse's performance and health (ex. lameness, founder, laminitis, navicular, body soreness).

A balanced hoof:

The unfixable club hoof.
This condition is like you
running in high heels

Balances the skeleton system of the horse with it's relationship with the coffin bone.

Delivers traction,  the front hoof pulls while the the hind hoof pushes.

Acts as a shock absorber by expanding and contracting.

Pumps blood out of the foot when expanding and contracting.

Creates proper stride break over.

When the hoof is unbalanced we use the words: club foot, high heel, uneven heels, long toes, flares, and underslung heels. 

Club foot is a hoof with a high heel that changes the weight axis collapsing the toe, and in extreme cases creates a dish in the front of the hoof. High heel is basically the same but, an earlier more fixable stage often caused by poor hoof care. The club foot or high heel can affect one or both front feet but, often they are uneven.

Same hoof as above after one trim.
Surprise a club hoof can be fixed

The weight axis is important for performance stride and body balance. An improper weight axis will cause improper hoof to ground contact changing hoof wear, then changing hoof growth. The front and back of the hoof will always affect each others balance and growth.

DAMAGE CAUSED BY A CLUB FOOT OR HIGH HEELS

As the heel height increases the heel will contract (become tighter). When the heel contracts the growth moves forward causing the hoof to be oblong instead of round (underslung heels, long toes). The bones inside the hoof (coffin and navicular) remain the same size as the hoof (nail) contracts and becomes oblong. The oblong condition will cause foot pain and bone deformity.

A clubfoot with a dished
toe from over weighting
 with forward weight axis

Heel  height effects to the body (muscle, tendon, ligament, and joint) is easy to experience by wearing high heels, women know this pain, men should give it a try! Normal easy tasks will become much harder and awkward giving you a bad attitude towards walking or trotting. I have found that forty percent of horse and human behavior problems are foot related. Make the feet feel better and the horse or human will move willingly!

Same hoof as above
after my trim restoring
proper weight axis

The hoof must have a natural balance, the hoof angles can affect and change the skeletal system from the ground up, causing discomfort to the shoulder, back, etc., altering the horse's movement discouraging movement. When horses have contracted and high heels every step will be painful as the contracted hoof capsule tightens around the coffin bone inside. High heels will show coffin bone rotation on radiographs although, the bone is not out of position. The mechanically rotated coffin bone will do damage to the laminae and cause inflammation until balanced. The rotation will decrease as the heels are trimmed or increase when the heels are raised. Eighty percent of my laminitis cases had high heels, long toes or other hoof damage requiring corrective trimming. 

CAUSES OF CLUB FOOT OR HIGH HEELS

When your horse is in motion, the heel is designed to make ground contact first causing wear to the heel. When genetics, pain, injury, or poor hoof care causes a horse's stride and ground contact to change (toe first landing), the toe will wear more than the heel. The ground contact and weight axis change will cause higher heel height and collapsing the toe.

I believe habit plays the major role in most causes:

A past injury has healed but, the movement habit continues. Riders favoring one direction can cause uneven hoof wear. Horses are also right and left handed so, they too favor one foot over the other in performance. The number one cause is feeding in one spot so, the horse holds the same stride each time while eating. Over time one heel will break down and become to low and the other heel will grow. A horse grazing on pasture will stride equally.

With most causes, poor hoof care is a factor, by the hoof specialist or the owner not having their horse trimmed.

TREATMENT FOR CLUB FOOT OR HIGH HEELS

Alarming number of horses have some degree of high uneven heels. Almost every new client's horse has uneven heels. Often it is said "thats just the way the hoof grows".  Can a club foot or high heel be fixed? "Yes, in time". Will the club foot or high heel correction stay? "No, unless the cause is fixed".  Every problem has many "causes and affects". For example, an injury started a change in stride (toe first contact), causing uneven muscle development, causing  stride length habit, and when the hoof is not corrected during this time the high heel itself becomes the cause, making a full circle. This is way it is hard to correct a club foot and high heels, there are many variables beyond trimming skills. 

The owner's responsibility:

Your horse should not be fed in one spot, scatter hay so your horse changes leg positions. 

Buckets should be raised so your horse stands even in the front.

Exercise your horse so muscle development and performance are near equal.

Same horse as above after my trim.
The left is to low and will grow
in time and the right is ideal height

The trimmer's responsibility:

The high heel:

The heel should be trimmed to the level of the sole.

Taper the sides of the frog so the ground spreads the heels.

Round the toe back to the white line for better break over.

The low heel:

Taper the hoof wall  outward all the way around so, first ground contact is on the inner wall.

Trimming the uneven heels (affect) even is easy but, they will grow back uneven unless the "cause" is corrected.