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hoof grows down instead of out

10K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  equineeventer3390 
#1 ·
hi every one. i have a horse, chucky. His hooves dont grow out like they should, they grow straight down:shock:. I was just wondering if any one else has a horse whos hooves grow down. if so, has anything come of it? How old is your horse and is it ridable? have you ever had any health problem hoof wise with it? soory about all the questions :? haha. I asked the vet about it when he was getting X-rays and she said that it is cause by a very slight (nothing to worry about) rotation of the hoof bone. would love to hear experiences and opinions.

also, do you think that this would make him more prone to hoof defects/illnesses/diseases/problems?

Also, he had corronitis about 5 months ago, does this mean he is prone to it in future? thanks in advance!:-p
 
#2 ·
hi every one. i have a horse, chucky. His hooves dont grow out like they should, they grow straight down:shock:. I was just wondering if any one else has a horse whos hooves grow down. if so, has anything come of it?
It is called club footed and is a conformational and genetic fault. Horses can be ridden without any major problems but it can also cause some horses to be unridable, just a matter of how severe the angle is.

Horses with this fault can have a stilted or short choppy gait but again it is also a matter of how the individual horse handles it.

These horses should not be bred from.
 
#3 ·
Pictures would really help. It could be a club foot problem as spyder said or it could just be how they are put together. Do all 4 grow the same way or only 1 or 2 of them? My mustang Dobe's back hooves grow down instead of out but he is just what I call "mule footed" on the back. He has never had any soundness issues, it just looks a little funny.
Do they look anything like this? (sorry for the bad pic, it was the only one I could find to crop and the date is in the way but I hope you get the idea)
 

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#4 ·
Hard to know what you mean without pictures.
I would treat any rotation as a red flag. Could be a poor trim, could be a metabolic issue, or an infection in the white line, but any rotation is not right and may coincide with easily bruised sole or at least tenderness.
Or did she mean that it wasn't a big deal as in," easily fixed", not as in "Don't do anything different because he's totally fine" ? So is it truely rotated or just pointed down steeper compared to the other feet? There's a lot of gray area here, but a rotation should mean that the coffin bone is not firmly connected to the hoof wall and is pressing down on the sole more than usual, which is a pathology.
AN upright foot is sometimes not fixable,but many times, if done properly, can be lowered to the appropriate height, if it's simply a trimming issue (farriers tend to want to make the feet look exactly the same, and a club foot can be the result, but if allowed to be "different' the hoof will happily take on it's intended shape. Sometimes a club foot is indicateing lameness or stiffness elsewhere in the body, like the shoulder, and if so, isn't fixable without fixing the cause.
 
#7 ·
his feet have been like it for as long as i have had him which is nearly 3 years. they dont look like the pic above, they look fairly normal. they just look like little pony feet. it is a rotation of the bone but only very very slight and my vet said it was nothing to worry about as in there is nothing you can do about it but nothing will come of it, so im guessing its nothing to worry about. she is a really good vet as well! he never had any problems before he got corronitis at all. it wasnt until he went to the vet before we knew his feet werent even normal! all four of his feet are the same. ill have to get a pic tomorrow for you all to see. the diameter of his hoof never changes, they just grow straight down. im just wondering if it would make him prone to more hoof problems or not, its a hard question to answer i know. he does have bad confirmation, not overly so its a problem but though. when i could ride him i could do anything and everything woth him. i guess its nothing to worry about but i wanted to see what others had to say. ill show you some pics tomorrow! thanks for everyones replies! i wud love to hear more!
 
#8 ·
Perhaps your vet is using the term rotation to decsribe that he has really upright coffin bones (and sounds like contracted feet), but without actually separating, so he's not truely "rotated" at all. I'm assuming, because descriptions on the internet can be easily misunderstood, but I'm going to go with that.

It sounds like your horse has vey contracted feet, which to answer your question of whether it could lead to lamness down the road; YES, it can. Contracted heels are a sign that he's not landing heel first and utilizing the shock absorbing properties of his foot, and his body is getting the full concusive force when he's working, He's at a higher risk of Navicular syndrome (esp since his coffin bone is tipped downward) and developing arthritis. It may be a genetic predispostion, as in conformation makes it more likely for him to have upright shoulders and move in a way to promote his hooves to be this way, but many times early trimming in foals is skipped and they are kept in stalls to protect them and the foal misses the opportunity to develop the back of the foot properly.
Regardless if it's not bothering him now, the coffin bone should not be considered "okay" as is. There should be some effort to promote heel first landing and correcting the angle to preserve his soundness for the future. It may not need to be anything dramatic, but subtle changes can help. He may have issues higher in his body that also limit his ability to land heel first if he's compensating, so his whole body should be examined and considered when trimming him. It's rare that all four feet would be exactly the same, the fronts and hinds are usually at different angles. Unless he's a mule, but even they must land heel first with the coffin bone landing flat, not on it's tip. Too many toe first landings can actually damage the coffin bone and erode the tip in bad cases. I would get a second opinion from a qualified farrier and maybe have another vet check out thos xray films, personally. Contracted feet can lead to serious lameness, and the coffin bone should never be allowed to stay "rotated" and be acceptable.
 
#9 ·
thanks everyone. firstly ive had 3 vets look at the x-rays and him and another vet to just look at him, so ive had 4 vets look at him since he has been sick! all i know is that my vet (and 2 others) said that he has a tiny tiny very slight rotation of the bone but there is nothing to worry anbout it and nothing we can do cause he has most likely been like it all him life. and they also said that is wont effect him, thats all i know cause thats all i was told. I was worried that is was rotating! but im listening to the vets.

he doesnt land heal first he lands toe first, i checked. without spending thousands of dollars (on top of the $1000 we jsut spent getting him better) there is nothing we can do. the only thing we can do is get corrective shoes (like braces for teeth :) ) but all 4 vets said it wasnt really nessecary. his hooves are the same as in they all grow down, not just the front or back hooves. here are some pics of his hooves. the pic with 2 hooves is his back and the other is his front. please no comments on how bad they look. they look a million times better than what they did. they are comming along well! its hard to see the true shape of his hooves cause they are bad at the moment but you might get the idea. Once his hooves are better i was planning on showing all of you his process in his hooves healing! :) thanks for everyones help so far!!!



 
#10 · (Edited)
WOW!your horses hooves look great to what I expected!:DI have a 2 year old pony who's hooves grow really fast!you know how they say that a horses hoof grows as fast as our nails do, well my pony's hooves 3 or 4,5 times faster then my nails,but I guess it's only because hes young ,his body is still forming.Anyway see ya later.


A HORSE GALLOPS WITH HIS LUNG,PRESERVES WITH HIS HEART, AND WINS WITH HIS CHARACTER
 

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#11 ·
So since you are from Australia, I must have misunderstood. Coronitis is an autoimmune disease where their body attacks the skin at the coronary band, and is genrally incurable, and attacks all hooves. Looks like your horse had LAMINITIS, which can be triggered by diet change, or excess grain. Different "itis".

You don't need shoes to fix what's going on with that front foot. His heels need to be shortened and the toe rockered, and you don't need shoes for that. It will help reconnect the coffin bone and eliminate the rotation if done right.Shoes can actually make it worse. Now it makes sense why the vets said not to worry, as a mild degree of rotation with laminitis is common. Still needs to be fixed, but is just part of the episode he had. Also, looks like he struggles with it, so did your vet recommend a diet change to eliminate sugars or starches, or do you know what triggered the episode? Certainly not the worst case I've seen, but the trim does need a little something different or it will stay that way.
Thanks for posting pics! Now it's clear!
 
#12 ·
I can see the effects of laminitis in those pictures but nope not clubbed at all.

The only problem I see is that horses that have had laminitis can be more prone to it again, so you need to be careful.
 
#13 ·
First thing that stood out to me is that his heels need to come down/back, but it's really not nearly what I expected. This is totally do-able! I totally agree with BFH, again, of course. Stay away from shoes; they will only weaken his already weak laminae. Get a good trimmer, review his diet and watch for improvements!
 
#14 ·
ok it ISNT laminitis!! we got x-rays to confirm that, the way his hooves look at the moment have nothing to do with what im asking. he had corronitis which completly exploded out of his corronet and he continued to get mild cases of every month up until 2 months ago, thats why his hooves are like that. we alreay looked at his diet, it was the first thing we did and yes we changed it so he WOULDNT get laminitis, which he didnt get. as i said, his hooves aer way better than they were and they are on the road to recovery, it wasnt and isnt as simple as a couple of trims to fix the problem. but they are being trimmed to correct them. its a slow process. im pretty sure he was born with the rotation and he has always been like it. before he got corronitis his hooves were trimmed correctly with shorter more back heals, i showed you these pics so you could get the general idea of their shape. i have been through 6 months of this. no one know exactly what caused it but every one was thinking that it was some kind of intoxication from a plant of some sort that was in his paddock. we have since cleared the paddock and jsut left grass and gum trees. every thing for his hooves has been looked at and changes were made. we have a good farrier who is in the process of fixing his hooves. we have had 4 vets look at him and he didnt have laminitis, we spent 100s of dollars figuring that out. and once his hooves are good enough (which is hopefully in about a month) he DOES need shoes, just normal ones, not corrective ones. my farrier and 3 different vets told me this.

ok just forget about the rotation of his bone for a minute. does anyone have experience or know anything about hooves that grow straight down instead of out, no matter how they are trimmed?

thanks for all your help every one!! lol i guess i havent really been explaining it very well! HAHA! keep your opinions comming! haha!

oh and the corronitis in australia is very curable, it just takes a long time! it can trigger laminitis, which we DID NOT want him to get!!!! obviously! haha!
 
#15 ·
Okay, well, coronitis is an autoimmune disease that is chronic, meaning it will never go away, and will in all likelyhood cause severe lameness eventually. It's treatable, not curable, worldwide. In New Zealand it's thought to be caused by spider bites (but that isn't proven).They really don't know why it happens. Most of the time it's thought to be allergies, etc before it's diagnosed. It can affect all the skin on the horse, but in coronitis, it's specifically in the coronet as hoof horn is specialized skin cells, and is also likely visible in his ergots (funny nubby thing in the fetlock) and chestnuts (bald skin callouses above the knees and below the hocks).
However, ANY inflammation that would occur with that is also causing laminitis, maybe not Acute, Severe laminitis, but laminitis it is. The technical medical defininiton of laminitis is inflammation of the lamina (connective layers that attatch the hoof wall to bone), it's not always the crippling, walking on eggs, and penetration of the sole, kind. Any growth rings on the hoof wall are scars, you could say, that are where the lamina attatchement failed, this is why there is a ridge. At some point, the wall is trying to grow re-attatched, and will grow exactly in line with the coffin bone. Horses that have "grass rings" have laminitis rings! Any rippling of the hoof wall is sign of laminitis, yet the horse may never take a bad step.
And since I'm giving a text book response, your horse is foundered. Meaning,in general, there is rotation. No horse is born rotated! It's a pathology developed from trauma, crappy farrier work or diet, or disease, or any combination thereof.
I never said 2 simple trims would cure it, but one good trim can set the coffin bone back in the proper postition, relieve the leverage that rips the compromised wall away from it, and allows it to grow down reattatched, with regular trims following up. The hoof isn't healed until the whole thing is regrown reattatched, and may take as little as 8 months or as much as over a year, depending on the situation,if the other factors are corrected.
Shoes are usually much less successful in correcting the problem, as they suspend the hoof capsule by the lamina, that is weak already, and promote sinking of the hoof bones into the hoof capsule. Laminits, as you said, can be caused by coronitis, so as long as he's suffering from that, even with treatment, the prognosis is not great for him to be sound, EVER.
The hoof growing straight down is where the healthy, attatched wall is, and tells you how the coffin bone is oriented within the hoof. Trim to make that angle match (and that would be the normal angle for him) and relieve the toe and you will be on the road to a happier horse, until his next flare up, at least. Sorry to say, it's just likely to be a life long battle for you and your horse, and you may never know why he has the flare ups. I wish you luck and hope research finds answers soon to help him. I can point you an intresting article about it by Derek Knottenbelt that has done a lot research in England about this.
 
#16 ·
Any growth rings on the hoof wall are scars, you could say, that are where the lamina attatchement failed, this is why there is a ridge....... Horses that have "grass rings" have laminitis rings! Any rippling of the hoof wall is sign of laminitis, yet the horse may never take a bad step................And since I'm giving a text book response, your horse is foundered. Meaning,in general, there is rotation. No horse is born rotated! It's a pathology developed from trauma, crappy farrier work or diet, or disease, or any combination thereof.
I agree and that is what I saw on those hoves. Seems to be under control now but once foundered even mildly you have to be very careful.
 
#17 ·
ok thanks guys! you have been a great help! sorry, i didnt mean to snap, but its a fairly sensitive subject for me. thats what i meant treatable, not curable. haha! ill see how his hooves grow out within the next few months. i have added some extra supliments into his diet and i am going to give him a calcium suppliment once i get ahold of some. i know it may not help but it could. the last month they seem to be growing ok so we will see what happens. if they continue to grow the way they are im going to get the vet out agian. thanks again!

and spyder, thanks we have been and are being very very careful!! thanks
 
#18 ·
I have a 13hh palomino pony not sure what breed he is. He has feet just like that, very upright and grow straight down. He is now 30 something years old and i have had him over 10 years. I never did too much on him, just WTC, trail rides, and some cross rails and small verticals. He has not had an off day in his life and still has no trouble from his feet, just stiff joints but pretty darn good for his age.
 
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