Buck hoof
With club foot or Sehnenstelzhuf a special form which is deformity of the limbs of horses referred. In the extreme case, not only the position but also the shape of the hoof is lost. The hoof is too steep to be weighted and used normally.
Symptoms
The hoof pastern axis is broken. The crown joint and the coffin joint are in the flexed position. This misalignment is easy to recognize from the outside. If you look at the hoof exactly from the side, then ideally, when the horse is standing with both front and rear hooves next to each other, the top of the hoof wall and an imaginary line through the fetlock should be parallel to each other. One speaks of a buck hoof only when this misalignment is so obvious that it is immediately noticeable as an unnatural position or the hoof has become deformed and has thus adapted to this unnatural position.
causes
A distinction is made between the congenital tendon stalks with involvement of the deep flexor tendon and the acquired tendon stalks with involvement of the deep flexor tendons. For the acquired, the causes usually lie in the horse's childhood. A buck hoof - especially if it can only be found on one fore limb - is not genetic, but acquired. As a rule, a foal is born with four healthy hooves. A foal that begins to graze has a neck that is too short. The legs are disproportionately too long. Some foals spread their front legs to graze, others put weight on the toes of their front hooves. In connection with a lack of exercise due to box posture and neglect of hoof trimming, such posture errors can manifest themselves permanently. But injuries that lead to a protective posture in the foal can also trigger the development of this tendon stilted foot.
Course of the disease and possible consequences
With the flexion of the toe joints , the coffin bone assumes an increasingly steep position. The white line becomes unnaturally wide. The horse can lose its ability to perform and move.
prevention
As a preventive measure, a horse owner or breeder can ensure that the hooves are not neglected, but that attention is paid to the healthy development of the hooves right from the start.
treatment
Once the horse is fully grown, a buck hoof can no longer be treated or only treated to a limited extent. If the hoof were to be made flatter by shortening the heels, this would overload the deep flexor tendon, causing irritation or inflammation of the tendon or the complex hoof roller. Due to the incorrect loading of the hoof, which can result from shortening the heel, a load row often develops on this hoof. In the case of the adult horse, essentially all that can be done is to ensure that this process does not progress. In some cases, the deep flexor tendon can be surgically extended by cutting its supporting ligament.
As long as the bones continue to grow in length, up to around the age of 4, the tendon is also able to lengthen. During this time, the hoof can slowly be returned to a better position through regular, competent treatment by a farrier or alternative hoof finisher. It is important to proceed carefully to avoid overloading the tendon.