Long toe syndrome, recognizing problems before it's too late
Posted by johnny Silveira at 9/21/2007 12:26 PM 
Categories: navicular, Care, Lameness, sheared heels, coffin bone rotation, contracted heels
Categories: navicular, Care, Lameness, sheared heels, coffin bone rotation, contracted heels
Hello again,
Hope everyone’s getting their best riding in before the winter sets in.
Hope everyone’s getting their best riding in before the winter sets in.
I wanted to point out a serious issue with horse’s feet and the controversy around it. It’s a serious issue because when it happens it can lead to several kinds of lameness. It’s what I call “Long toe syndrome” sometimes I refer to it as “Bozo the clown feet”. Recognizing it can be difficult sometimes because the problem will sneak up and then it’s almost too late, “You’re in trouble” – your horse is in trouble.
I’m not talking about length of foot as in when it’s time to trim the feet, I’m talking about how the foot drifts forward and pulls the heels forward with it. I’m including pictures here so you have a visual.
I’m not talking about length of foot as in when it’s time to trim the feet, I’m talking about how the foot drifts forward and pulls the heels forward with it. I’m including pictures here so you have a visual.
Quickly though, what I’m referring to is, as an example: if you tried to walk with snow skis on – well, you really can’t huh, that’s why you have to slide your feet along when you have skis on. It’s basically the same issue when it comes to a horse with the long toes. Take a quick look below, it’s a horse with quite a bit of long toe problem.
It's difficult to capture just how severely off this horse is. That strange looking line around the foot is a bulge. As the toe grows out the integrity of the foot deteriorates causing the bulge. Many times right there at the worst spot a blowout will occur ( a crack ) the other foot actually has a crack.
It's difficult to capture just how severely off this horse is. That strange looking line around the foot is a bulge. As the toe grows out the integrity of the foot deteriorates causing the bulge. Many times right there at the worst spot a blowout will occur ( a crack ) the other foot actually has a crack.It’s interesting but also a problem that many Vets do not recommend rasping the hoof off at the toe- it’s a fear of weakening the hoof wall. It’s reasonable to think then that’s the reason I hear so many times that Farriers come right out and say to their clients “I’m afraid to rasp the toe back for weakening the hoof”. So the problem of the long toe gets perpetuated (just as in the picture above) by this controversy – no one willing to rasp the toe. I have personally many times gotten horses with severe long toes and have rasped the hoof all the way back to where the white line starts to show ( Never in over 16 years of doing so have I had a problem with it ). I’ll caution you right now don’t go any farther than that!!!
The problems with horses and long toes are many, I’ll name some – coffin bone rotation, bowed tendons, sheared heels, lamina separation, flares, check ligament failure, navicular disease, contracted heels, improper angles, quarter cracks, uneven sole pressure, interfering and gait problems – there’s more. What I am hoping to impress upon your mind here is “These are ALL serious issues – and I’m only relating this from ONE aspect of a shoeing problem “Long toes”. You and your horse can’t afford ANY of these problems.
The way the long toe sneaks up on you, and your horse, is the condition doesn’t come about just by “One shoeing” – it can take a full year sometimes longer of a little bit of creeping in changes that you don’t notice until it’s too late and now you have a full blown problem – sheered heels, hoof wall stretch, loads on the foot not correct, contracted heels, and now your horse is “Not Happy and You’re both lucky the horse hasn’t come up permanently lame already”. I’m sorry but I need to Drive this message home!!!
So the message is to recognize “NOW” and start to apply “NOW” rasping the toes back. It’s a practice I do in nearly “Every single shoeing” as “MOST” horses have the problem, it’s inherent in the foot for this creeping of the toe to take place therefore it becomes something to correct at every shoeing or trimming. Recognize it – I’m going to hope the photo helps but I will be coming back soon with further explanations and examples. The problems “Inside the foot” at the bone level are quite critical.
Some time ago I saw a movie with Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, I don’t remember the name of the movie, but Clark Gable was trying to catch a wild horse by chasing it down in a Automobile. The horse was running full speed, what I thought was so interesting was how easy it was for the auto to chase the horse – not because the car can always go faster but because the horse for the most part “ at it’s fastest speed running” could only run in a straight line. The horse was "Trying" to get away but could only run straight. Think about that. There’s a reason for that. The bones in a horse’s foot are only designed by nature to rotate on a forward and backward plane – the foot breaks over on a parallel line “Forward”, the feet DO NOT flex sideways.
Some time ago I saw a movie with Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, I don’t remember the name of the movie, but Clark Gable was trying to catch a wild horse by chasing it down in a Automobile. The horse was running full speed, what I thought was so interesting was how easy it was for the auto to chase the horse – not because the car can always go faster but because the horse for the most part “ at it’s fastest speed running” could only run in a straight line. The horse was "Trying" to get away but could only run straight. Think about that. There’s a reason for that. The bones in a horse’s foot are only designed by nature to rotate on a forward and backward plane – the foot breaks over on a parallel line “Forward”, the feet DO NOT flex sideways.
Horses are “Straight ahead” animals for the most part. That’s why in the wild they live out in open plains and pastures, to run fast and straight to escape. Unlike a cheetah for example that can make sharp turns at 60 miles per hour, the reason a cheetah can do so is the bones in their feet and ankles are designed to do so – but not horses – I have some great photos for you to show this. For next time perhaps. Keep in mind all these corrections I’m mentioning on these blog posts that go wrong with horses are not “Isolated” issues – everything ties together – you’ll need to keep all these things in mind – because when it’s all put together is where the magic comes and your horse will finally be moving the way it should. Well I better go. Till next time, as usual, happy and safe riding and remember to always www.Care4Horses.com
Excellent notes on long toes and the almost epidemic occurence in the shod horse world today.
I do disagree with your comment "the hoof doesn't/can't flex side to side.
The hoof bulb are separate, with a flexible (hopefully fat and shock absorbing) frog inbetween. If the hoof DID NOT flex left to right on uneven terrain, it would crack (and it does...usually right at the quarters and clips are almost always put on).
Interfering with the natural flexion of the hoof (even if it is in perfect shape) will cause stress at those points and damage laminae or interior structures accordingly.
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i wasn't making myself clear - sorry about that . Of course horse's feet flex side to side and up and down and every which way - i'm talking about HOOF flex when i make the above statements. I haven't re-read what you were reading to make the above statements but i'm sure what i was talking about was most likely a statement that was referring to the joints and i probably just didn't make the point clear. It's the joints that don't do well with flexing - that's why i don't shorten the medial side of the hoof to correct pigeon toes and i don't shorten the lateral side of the hoof to correct toed out horses.
by the way - thank you for leaving your comments i really appreciate the input. it's great to hear from others that take horses health and feet seriously . Keep up the good work
John
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hi, well, now i am on a new page to read and learn by,from the founder page, to the navicular page.before i give you my new festus update, the movie with gable and monroe was "the misfits" great movie, but it killed gable, he insisted on doing his own scenes with the horses in that heat.now to festus! well, "the new guy" called last night to tell me his friend and him studied the x-ray,over and over ( i am assuming they used a protractor!)they both came to the conclusion that festus is NOT foundered, but has old age navicular problems, that were agravated by the terrain and trimmings (or lack of!) he was in before he came back to me. in your photo above,the bulges i see, were many on his front hoofs when he arrived,as well as extremely long toes,as i told you in a prior comment. i called them rings, and there were many!maybe it was from the lenght of those toes? and not founder? i was not around him then, so dont know about heat in his feet, or pulse. his neck was definately crested.ijn fact fes said it made him look studdish,look out girls.....! i need to know where to go now from here. any suggestions for my festus? i will be using the new guy. thanks, mimi
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