# Would you buy a horse with pigeon toes?



## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Just a question out of curiosity!

Duffy has pigeon toes, and flicks slightly when ridden. I have been told by vet, farrier, trainer I should be thankful it is from the shoulder downwards though.. meaning its the entire leg, so she sometimes has it as a complete 45-90 degree angel, or completely straight!

For people who have- has this effected your horse in any way?

As a side note, her legs were xrayed in the PPE and no damages, or arthritis was found..or navicular!


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## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

No, I wouldn't buy a horse with any known fault if possible as there are plenty of ones without obvious issues, but everything has to be weighed up and others things may outweigh that particular issue to a new owner. (e.g I did buy a tb who dished slightly, but in every other way she was perfect.)


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

It is far better than toeing out. 

If a horse is pigeon toed WITH offset cannons or bench knees, it is part of a major fault and will cause the horse to end up with very bad knees, usually pretty young. 

It sounds like your horse is straight through the knees, so it is not a major fault. It is a highly inheritable one so such horses should not be bred. 

I have a couple now that are pigeon toed and they have never had a problem. I have had others in the past that hard riding (like jumping and working cattle) did make them get arthritis and enlarged knees earlier in life than most horses.

It is very important that pigeon toed horses get trimmed or shod often so the inside of their hooves cannot grow too long and put stress on their knees. I have not seen a pigeon toed horse that did not grow more on the inside than the outside, making it travel much worse when their feet were long.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Duffy is my first horse with any conformation 'issues' that stand out a mile.. being 18.1hh I wondered if it would effect her more being a bigger horse, however doing the PPE, the vet saw her lunged and said with training there is no reason why she couldn't do dressage, and possibly low level jumping. She is 6 (officially 7 but bah humbug ;D)

I wouldn't breed from her, that would be irresponsible of me as on owner and horse lover. 

She is trimmed every 6 weeks, and shod on the front. My farrier is superb, is at the yard every other week for different horses or so and ALWAYS has a sneak peek at her feet to make sure nothings going wrong.

Thanks for the info Cherie! 

And Clava, I generally wouldnt, however after a couple of months of trying every type, breed, age, price of horse, she was the one I sat on and said YES ;D She chose me as much as I chose her!


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## xxGallopxx (Dec 1, 2011)

Hmmm. If it was slight, and didn't affect his/her's soundness, then yes maybe  I don't know much about pigeon toed horses, but when you think about it, it's kinda like owning a horse that cribs, has a club foot, bites, or has founder. It just depends on if the horse's good qualities such as training level and personality, out weigh the downsides. I bought a cribber this summer, and I don't regret it one bit. His cribbing is totally under control, and I am on the brink of breaking him of it lol (And don't say it's impossible cause it's not. It totally depends on the horse and his surroundings and what the owner is willing to do) Personally, I wouldn't buy a horse with a bad habit/conformation flaw unless I could live with it or correct it. Just my 2 cents


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## banman (Dec 14, 2009)

i would pick that over toe out anyday, i know barrel, cow and reining horses that are pigion toed and have no issues what so ever. but that would also depend on the severity.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

I'll try and find some pictures for you.. when she stands funny, and people go OMG LOOK AT YOUR HORSE.. I'm like, oh, hold up, give her shoulder a poke and she stands 'normal'... whatever she's comfy with, to be fair.


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## BarrelRacer23 (Aug 17, 2011)

Yes, I had bought a slightly pigeon toed older barrel gelding. Had him for a year, their was a girl who passed him up because he was pigeon toed. Let's just say that horse ran 1D times with me all winter long, and should have won me a saddle (got cheated out of it). He was 15 and sound as they came.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I ditto everything Cherie said.

My Dobe is pigeon toed. He's been used _hard_ in the almost 7 years I've owned him and he's never taken a lame step.


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## Jessabel (Mar 19, 2009)

Norman is pigeon toed, and he's never been lame. He has really good legs aside from that, so I'd like to think it never will give him any problems. He's only seven, so I guess we'll see. :? 

To answer your question, yes, I might buy a pigeon-toed horse (I already did, but I didn't know better at the time). As long as it was mild, of course. Any serious leg defects will send me running for the hills.


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## OuttatheBlue (Dec 8, 2011)

I have a slight pigeon toed horse on one of his front feet. When he stands funny, it's VERY obvious, but most of the time it's not too bad. I've actually found a way to get him to stand so his pigeon toe isn't noticeable at all, and it got him placed in the top percentage of Halter horses at fair! (THAT was a shock, didn't think he would ever do well in halter because of his foot)
As for riding, he can do anything and his pigeon toe has never held him back, he's only been lame about a week the entire almost four years I've owned him.


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