Club Feet on a Miniature Pony -- With
2 Videos Below
Before and After With 8 Weeks Between Trimming
Here are some before and after shots of the most severely club-footed horse (miniature pony) that I've worked on. Notice after the trimming that the Pony's heels won't even touch the ground with her full weight on the front feet. Her tendons are so severely contracted that they prevent her heels from reaching the ground. The two photos on the bottom show after 8 weeks between trimmings that she can now stand on her heels. However, the outcome of removing the heels so severely and not causing lameness was extremely unusual, and extreme caution should be taken in removing so much heel so quickly on most normal-sized horses. I advised my client of the possibility that this little mare could be sore after the trimming, and she wanted to proceed anyway.
Below: Front heels won't touch the ground after the first trimming.
Video below after first trimming--heels don't touch the ground:
Below: After the second trimming 8 weeks later the heels are touching the ground, and there was no apparent lameness whatsoever in either of the front feet.
The video below was taken after trimming the pony again 8 weeks
after the original to correct the original front clubbed feet.
Notice that the pony is not walking on her toes anymore. The
tendons have definitely stretched out enough that her heels are able
to touch the ground. This is proof
that in some horses it is possible to correct
severely club-footed feet without laming or permanently injuring the
affected horse. Some horses do not respond well to this severe
of heel trimming over such a short period. This miniature pony
mare will always tend to get clubby again if not properly trimmed.
In her case, I never remove material from the distal (bottom)
surface of the toe and sole area--just the heels, and she does very
well as proven in the video. Note: She was also pregnant at
the time.
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