04/08/2020
Worth a read !!
Hi/Lo or Asymmetrical Feet
I get asked about hi/lo feet quite a lot & the problems associated with it.
I also occasionally get asked/told, that someone’s farrier was the cause. Personally, I don’t see how a farrier can cause true hi/lo in horses.
What I do see a lot are owners with young horses telling me the horse wasn’t born with the upright foot, so it must be the farrier!
It’s important to understand that hi/lo is caused by, we think anyway, pain &/or a disparity in the limbs or similar, which is then exacerbated by disproportionate loading to the feet once the horse is born. These horses with congenital hi/lo also tend to have a difference in coffin bone angle.
In the womb there is no load on the limb, & as such no pain/discomfort. And limb disparity is irrelevant as there is no disproportionate loading, so foals are not born with club feet.
** Not that I’m aware of anyway!
Once on the ground though, the asymmetry begins for one of the above reasons.
** Although much of the chiropractic association believe it has to do with the foal coming through the birthing canal & compression of the wither area.
But the fact remains that the club foot, or asymmetric feet, begin to change once the horse is on the ground due to disproportionate loading, with the low foot becoming more dominant.
The other reason I feel farriers sometimes get blamed is when taking over from another farriers work. I often see farriers trying to match the feet by leaving more toe on the upright foot, which is something I do not recommend at all. Then the nxt farrier treats the feet as individuals & the difference in the feet becomes more noticeable. But IMO this is the correct way to manage these feet.
There are plenty of exercises you can do to try & alter the dominance of the low foot & engage the hi foot, but if there is discomfort or pain to the horse you have little chance of changing things IMO
Renate Weller stated at a farriers conference that she believed all horses with asymmetrical feet have a lameness, the cause of the asymmetry.
From a ridden point, the horses will tend to lower the shoulder towards the low front foot. This will cause the horse to fall in or out towards that foot when doing circles.
They will have a preferred canter lead, which will generally be in the direction of the low foot ie if the low foot is the LF, the horse will prefer the left canter lead
Some will also have a preferred trot diagonal & will bounce u onto the other diagonal.
Straightness is not the friend of these horses either.
•• We have consulted on a number of gallopers running poorly with asymmetrical front feet, only to recommend sending them to NSW where they run the opposite direction. Having the low foot to the inside of the track tends to stop them hanging or running wide on the be bends. The feedback had been excellent!
When grazing or standing these horses have the low/dominant foot forward 90% of the time, further exacerbating the disproportionate loading,
**It’s recommended to feed these horses off the ground & constantly correct the stance.
These horses all have body asymmetries also, which makes saddle fitting & rider straightness difficult. Most find the back of their saddle constantly sliding towards the hi foot. And remember, you can’t fit a symmetrical saddle to an asymmetrical horse.
When it comes to the feet & farriery, most often we see the low foot with low PA & broken back alignment, & the high foot better aligned with a higher PA, but suffering from bone loss at the tip of P3 & less than ideal sole depth. I have found the upright foot really likes a leather pad & a rolled toe shoe, or even a low grade roller.
Whilst these horses can be managed, & I know some beautiful horses with asymmetrical feet, I personally would not recommend a client of mind purchase a hi/lo horse.
