Draggin of Toes

[Anna**]

I have had my mare for about a year now. At the back end of last year she started to drag her toes constantly during trot. My present farrier at the time said it is very common but in severe cases it can be linked with back problems. He rolled the toes on her shoes but she was squaring her hoof right off and I was getting through shoes very quickly.

I then had her saddle checked and then her back - neither of them are a problem.

I have recently changed Farriers and my new one is putting special stuff on the shoe and her shoes are not squaring at all, but this is not the point.

I have tried so many things whilst out riding to stop her. I have tried squeezing with my legs on every beat, lengthing and shortening her stride, all sorts of things. The one problem I have is that I only really know when she is doing it when we are on the roads because you can hear it (the sound is awful).

I do feel that when I got her maybe I was not strong enough in the leg and she has now got this habit which I can not get rid of.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Anna

[Edited by Anna** on 10th Aug 2000 at 02:25 PM]

[hlstarmie]

I would like to help you but i have the same problem with my pony he has only just started to do it though. At first i thought it was because he was being lazy but im not sure now :confused:!
I hope someone can share some light on this one.

[Jay Kay]

I have a young mare ( 5 yrs) who also has this action,
Unfortunatly I think this can be so complex that it would be difficult to access by description or give an opinion/suggestions on this board.

In my mares case, we have had her back checked, saddle fitted and teeth examined. She is carrying a lot of extra weight at the moment and we wiil try and reduce that before we start on x rays of the hock and pelvic area.

This could be as simple as just 'the pony being overweight''
lazy, or green. Or else it can be more sinister i.e arthritic changes in the hocks, pelvic damage etc.

I think the only way to find out is by a veterinary examination, if my mare improves with work and weight loss I will not worry anymore about it, but each case is an individual one. She is only recently backed and goes forward willingly, I think that if she was in distress or pain she would soon let me know, by either bucking or refusing to go forward.
Sorry this is not much help to you, but I think there is no straightforward answer to this one.

[StaceyC]

Anna,
Your problem could be the shape of your mare's hooves.
The front of the hoof wall should be parrallel to a line through the center of the long pastern bone. A long toe and a low heel create an imbalance in the hoof and can cause dragging, or in severe cases, stumbling.

As your horse moves forward, the hoof pivots at the front edge of the toe and breaks over, (break over is the phase of the stride between a weight-bearing flat foot and a lift off, when the toe leaves the ground.) The farther forward the break over point, the more difficult and more delayed the break over becomes. On a wild horse, the break over point will be about an inch in front of the tip of the frog. But domestic horses don't wear their toes off, so the break over point is often far forward from where it should be. It sounds like this may be the case with your mare.

A rolled toe shoe has the least effect on break over.

I would suggest you ask your farrier about a rocker-toed shoe, which is bent up at the toe and the hood if rasped at the toe so the bent portion will fit. These are pretty difficult to make and apply, and so they're more expensive.

You might also try a square toed shoe that runs straight across the toe instead of being rounded. With a square toed shoe the overhanging toe is rasped off or left to wear off.

We used the rocker toed shoe on our gelding and it has worked out really well. I hope this helps.

[Anna**]

Thank you for all your replys.

Stacy, can you tell me if your Gelding still actually drags his toes but just dosn't wear his shoes out or has this type of shoe stopped him from dragging his toes completely?

The stuff that my farrier has put on Daily's shoes has stopped them wearing out but she still drags them. I will have to talk to my farrier about this type of shoe.

Thanks for your help.

[Jay Kay]

StaceyC

That was really interesting about the breakover point.
Can you tell me if the rocker shoes are needed permanently or are they an interim measure until the hoof is in better balance.?
My young mare doesn't so much drag her toes as clip them, and not all the time.Did your gelding improve immediatly or over a period of time.?

Jay Kay

[StaceyC]

Anna,
No, he no longer drags his toes at all. His foot actually
kind of "rocks" off the ground at lift off.

Jay Kay,
I don't really have an answer to whether or not this is a
permanent measure or not. Grayco has been wearing them for about six months now, and I'm not sure if or when we are going back to a normal rounded shoe. The improvement was immediate, but we didn't ride for a couple of days after he got his first set, so that he could get used to them.

I know so often these kinds of problems are specific to each individual, but I hope this helps.
Good Luck!

[Jay Kay]

Thanks StaceyC

The information has been very helpful, I will have a chat with my farrier.

Jay Kay