Pedigree Query

I need advice. I am thinking of purchasing a potential broodmare. She has good pedigree and good conformation other than a club front left foot. She is unraced of course. I was wondering if someone out there can give me an idea whether it is a good idea to breed her. Will she pass on her club foot to the offspring? Should I even buy her?
Thanks.

I believe there is a genetic predisposition toward club feet when breeding from horses that have them. However I have seen horses with club feet produce offspring that are fine and I've seen horses that appear to be fine produce offspring with club feet.

Depending on the severity of the club, often a good farrier can keep the angles mostly in check. Then again, a bad farrier can take an iffy hoof and make it much worse.

The fact that a horse has a club foot does not necessarily mean it will not race. Nor that it won't produce offspring that are perfectly useful. For what it's worth, Pulpit, whose stud fee is $80,000 is known for producing club feet (which he himself does not have--though his sister whom I saw at a sale once did have one.)

So I guess my answer is...maybe. Depending on how bad the club foot is, I would probably not buy that fault in a mare that I was looking to breed, but I know plenty of people who wouldn't be much bothered by it at all. Another example: last January I looked at a mare at the Keeneland sale who had a moderate club foot. I didn't bid on her but enough other people were interested that she sold for $60,000.

Basically, it's a bit of a gamble...but then so is horse breeding.

Forgot to mention: the mare I saw in January was a minor stakes winner. So her club foot hadn't gotten in the way of her career.

hi Meadow View Ranch

Meadow View Ranch wrote:I need advice. I am thinking of purchasing a potential broodmare. She has good pedigree and good conformation other than a club front left foot. She is unraced of course. I was wondering if someone out there can give me an idea whether it is a good idea to breed her. Will she pass on her club foot to the offspring? Should I even buy her?
Thanks.

For starters, why do you state "she is unraced of course" ? I have seen some very talented racehorses with a clubby and/or contracted foot. Thunderello is a recent one that comes to mind.

Like anything else...there are degrees. If the club foot (on the mare you are considering) is extremely upright...and/or extremely narrow and contracted...and/or concave and/or shelly, I would strongly consider passing on her.

If the club foot does not fall into the extremely deformed and/or potentially problematic category, and leans more toward being normal (although it is clubby)...maybe she's worth a closer look. If everything else about the mare is exactly what you are looking for...and three of her feet are to your satisfaction and the one leans toward clubby, but is not so deformed and/or potentially problematic that it attracts attention like a magnetic...maybe it's a go.

But even then, I suggest don't be surprised if your mare produces a foal (at least now or then) with a clubby and/or contracted foot.

For what it's worth, I have seen some wonderful producers with a clubby and/or contracted foot, produce some outstanding racehorses; but clearly it's a negative at a sale.

If you purchase the mare with a club foot, I suggest that it is a fault that should be taken very seriously (and arguably as a priority) during the stallion selection process for her.

Respectfully

I'm not in the breeding business, but as a few others mentioned I'd look at the severity of grade club foot she has and go from there.
Easy Goer was a well known horse with a left front club foot. His was a lower grade (I think a 2 out of 5?) but still very much noticeable in still photos. Sure didn't hurt him running (to the tune of $4 million+ and 9 Grade 1's). He stood stud for $100,000 and produced some decent runners from about 130 foals. Pretty sure there was someone here with two Easy Goer mares, does anyone recall seeing any amount of his offspring at sales with the same defect?

This thread peaked my interest so I took a trip back in time to my old livestock and equine genetic textbooks. Club feet are not listed as specifically inheritable, but are a result of other conformational problems or traits or a result of disease or injury. As a farrier for many years, I can tell you that club feet in older horses are normally a result of trauma or founder. We are seeing more and more incidences of club feet due to injury in OT horses. I've seen many good race, event, and sport horses perform well with a club foot. Seabiscut had a club foot. He was a producer and did not pass this abnormality on to his progeny. My daughter has a beautiful OTTB with a club foot due to trauma that is simply elegant in the dressage ring. Many weanlings and yearlings are mis-diagnosed with club feet, because they normally have a more upright stance in their first two years of growing. A club foot would be low on my list to eliminate a well conformed athletic mare or stallion from breeding. I'd be much more concerned by the presence of an abnormal leg set which is highly inheritable.