Hoof Care for Toeing Out
by: Stephen E. O'Grady, DVM, MRCVS
My 2-year-old filly has turned-out toes, which originate from her knees.
She does not trip or paddle when moving. However, after trimming her
feet, she walks on the outside of the hoof and rotates her weight to
the inside.
I would like to know if a particular way of trimming her hooves would
help the problem, or if I should shoe her. She is due to start training
soon.
The farrier now trims her hooves shorter on the outside. Linda Nichols,
via e-mail
--------------------------------------------------------------
The toed-out condition you describe originates from the conformation of
her forelimbs where her knees are rotated laterally (outward). This results
in a condition called sheared heels, where the inside heel bulb of the
foot is displaced proximally (pushed upwards). Because of her limb conformation,
her hoof impacts the ground on the outside section of the foot and loads
on the inside section of the foot, leading to a disproportionate amount
of weight being placed on one side of the foot.
This can lead to many foot problems, including distortion of the hoof
capsule, bruising, separation in the hoof wall at the heel, quarter cracks,
and fractures of the bars. Treatment is directed toward trimming the foot
to improve the way in which she lands. This is accomplished by trimming
the impact side (inside of foot) lower than the outside. In order to maintain
the trimming performed, a straight bar shoe is often applied. Additional
hoof wall at the heel is removed before applying the shoe so a space is
created between the heel of the foot and the shoe.
This will allow the inside heel to drop against the outside heel, and
the hoof capsule will assume a more normal conformation. The bar shoe prevents
the vertical movement that occurs at the heels during landing on a horse
with this type of conformation.
