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Common Pathologies of the Equine HoofFlares & Wall Separation, Heels, Frog/Thrush, Flat Sole, Laminitis & Founder, Navicular Flares & Wall SeparationWall flare is excessive hoof wall that grows outward due to excessive length
and insufficient wear. The wall is strongest when the entire hoof
wall from the coronary Flare and "white line separation" are basically the same thing. When looking at the sole of a flared foot, the white line is dirty and stretched or may make a small groove between the wall and the sole. Flare to the hoof is like pulling two pieces of velcro apart. But unlike Velcro, it cannot be put back together. Well connected wall must be grown down from the coronary band.
These hooves have been soaked several times since Oct 5th, 2007. I'm anxious to see the improvement at the next trimming. Stay tuned. Flares are painful to the animal. Think of having your fingernail slowly ripped off! Laminitis (inflammation of the white line) is so painful that the horse will stand in the "founder stance". Even without founder, a flare can be painful enough to make the animal noticeably unsound. Building adequate sole is more than just leaving it alone. Remember – it’s all skin, even the hoof. If the horse is lacking in nutrition or ill in some way, the organs are preserved while “skin” is left on its own. Typically horses will stay thin soled until you’ve grown in a totally well connected wall. So get rid of that flare! For more information and lots of good pics, please see: http://www.barefoothorse.com/barefoot_Flares.html Heel PathologiesContracted Heels/Hoof - The hoof capsule deformity presses
in on the sides of the back of the hoof, squeezing the soft tissues
of the the back of the hoof making the heels narrower. "Contraction robs
the horse of its natural blood pumping, shock absorbing expansion almost as
bad as a nailed on shoe....The very best thing to do for contraction
is not to worry about it. The hoof "knows" what its optimum shape
is and is constantly trying to go there. All we really have to do
is remove the excessive hoof that is working against the horse and
allow plenty of movement on bare feet......if the horse is sound
on his bare feet you are doing an exceptional job with his hoof care,
so find something
ThrushThrush can be rather painful for the horse causing it to land toe-first to
avoid the heel pain. Equine thrush is caused by anaerobic bacteria (living without oxygen) that,
when trapped in moisture, can create an infection that slowly eats
away at the horse's hoof tissue, particularly the frog area. Most
of the time this will create some mild discomfort, but as long as
it is Equine Thrush has always been thought to be associated with unhealthy living conditions, but this may not be totally accurate. Thrush is also not a wet environment problem only. Many years of studying hooves and investigating successful treatments of thrush have brought to light another picture of the cause of this disease. Poor hoof care can only partly be identified as a cause (for example, with horses kept standing most of the time, unable to move freely). Properly trimmed and maintained hooves & frogs, cleaned on a fairly regular basis and unrestricted movement contribute greatly to ridding the problem of thrush. Fungus is usually primary with a secondary bacterial infection eating tissue. Whatever you use, don’t use something that kills live tissue. While Kopertox is traditionally used to treat thrush, it is a nasty poison, both for us and the horses, and the environment. It
also kills live tissue, providing more "food" for the invading organisms.
I personally have had very good results with For deep central sulcus thrush ( that crevice I talked about above), use what I call "Ramey Goo". This is a 50/50 combination of Triple Antibiotic Ointment and 1% Clotrimazole Athletes Foot Cream that Pete Ramey came up with and has had much success with. (Generic Brand is fine) I buy 1 oz tubes of each, mix them together in a small container and then use a small spatula to put some in a 60cc catheter tip syringe. The easiest way to get the goop out of the tubes is to cut off the bottom of the tube and squeeze it out rather than trying to squeeze it out the tip of the tube. When you use two 1 oz tubes, you end up with 2 oz's of cream. Only put 1/2 to 1 oz of the cream in the syringe at a time or you won't be able to hold the syringe in one hand and plunge the "goo" into the crevice. Do not tolerate deep crevices in the sulcus! This is not normal. It’s not so much about the “stuff” we treat it with as is the stimulation required for healing. Every pressure and release action stimulates growth. Foam rubber (like using boots with pads and exercising the horse) and 4” deep pea gravel work wonders. If you beat thrush in the sulcus, you’ll beat it everywhere else. Please see Pete Ramey's article on Frog care for further information. Club FeetWith the Club Foot, one foot is steeper than the other. It wants to, needs to, etc. but it is not a hoof problem. The horse is adapting to something else. Go on a detective mission. There is/was an injury, nerve damage, or opposite hind stifle problem as examples. Massage folks can really help the club foot horse. Please see Pete Ramey's article on the Club Foot. Flat SoleIs there truly a flat footed horse or is he just living on very hard terrain? Horses on hard flat terrain won’t like deep concave hoof because they are peripherally loaded. We must always consider the animals living conditions and terrain to determine the best hoof for the horse. Hard packed ground – flatter looking foot – concavity fills in. Soft ground – more concavity. Can have a winter foot and summer foot. Summer – hard ground – sole fills in. Winter – exfoliate. Frozen terrain, hard ground, flatter sole. You'll need boots for traction on flat footed horses until concavity can be built. Yes, concavity can be built with the natural trim over time coupled with the proper environment. Laminitis & Founder
NavicularGenetically, the horse thinks they are a wild horse. Parts of the hoof need the right amount of pressure to develop structure. This is why it is so important that foals get to move about and play and not be contained in a stall or small area. Without contact with the earth and movement, their hooves will not develop properly. Our equine friends need a lot of movement on uneven terrain and side to side flexion to develop the needed structure. The "Theory of Hemodynamics" (the
flow of blood). At peak impact there is a moment in time that the blood can't move. It gets pinched off and pressure builds. At breakover, the horse takes the weight off the sole and all the pressure is released back up the leg. This is a very important part of how movement is helping to circulate the blood. If you don't have a heel first impact and sole pressure, this function is greatly diminished. During a study in which only the outer wall is weight bearing versus taking that same foot and putting it on foam or pea gravel, it was found that the capillary fill is much greater when there is sole and frog pressure than when a horse is hanging from its hoof walls. And this is merely standing still. The hoof wall is a big spring that is designed to pull the hoof back together. The force of the horses weight causes hoof expansion, but only one thing causes the hoof to snap back making it ready for the next impact, the hoof wall. To develop lateral cartilages and internal structure, use pea gravel in the turn out areas, ride in boots and pads, trim to encourage a heel first landing. Navicular Syndrome/DiseaseThe navicular bone acts as a pulley for the deep flexor tendon. It is classically thought that the navicular bone would go through changes & develop lesions, spurs that would cause pain to the back of the foot and it was thought to be incurable. Navicular Syndrome simply means that the horse hurts in the back of the foot but the cause is unknown. Navicular Disease is when there are actual changes in the bone that shows up on x-rays. Traditional methods would typically use bar shoes and then pads, just bandaiding the problem, continually raising the heel driving the coffin bone tip down into the sole. James R. Rooney DVMToe first landings have been proven to lead to navicular syndrome and navicular disease. James R. Rooney DVM (The Lame Horse, among many other books) spent a career studying the whole horse and performing thousands of dissections. During his studies, he found that the damage was happening to the deep flexor tendon first, not to the bone. In no cases was there damage to the bone and not the tendon. He found yellowing of the cartilage that surrounds the navicular bone and he could recreate this yellowing with heat from a light bulb. The only thing that could cause this on its own was higher friction. What causes higher friction in this area? Excessive force. Unnatural force. Dr. Rooney built a machine to put the limb of the cadaver in a constant toe first landing position and was able to duplicate this observation he'd seen in his dissections. He then built other models and examined the various forces to the leg, which further confirmed his theory that chronic toe first landings lead to navicular. Horses should only land toe first as they move up hill or on rocky terrain. Even after Dr. Rooney published his findings in 1974, tradition won out over science. Robert M. Bowker, VMD, PhD - Michigan State University Equine Foot LaboratoryDr. Bowker furthered this navicular research. General loss of mass in the coffin bone, when it reaches 30-40%, will begin to spread to the navicular bone and affect it. This is blamed on peripheral loading, forcing the horse to bear all of its weight on the hoof wall and taking away the pressure on the frog, sole and bars. NASA has proven that when astronauts are in space too long and have a lack of pressure to their bones, the bone starts to take away density. This is why weight bearing exercise helps us build strong bones. The exact same thing happens to equines when they don't get enough sole pressure. It registers to the horse as a lack of necessary force and the body starts to remodel the bone. Excessive pressure removes bone as a whole, at the distal border of the coffin bone. Inadequate pressure can remove bone density. The horse needs the right amount of pressure that is provided by natural movement, heel first landings, sole, frog and bar pressure. Washington State University studies using MRI technology, found damage to the soft tissue that we never knew existed, shows up long before x-rays show changes to the navicular bone. This is just one more study that comes right back to the toe first landing compensating for back of the foot pain, that leads to navicular syndrome/disease. What can be done for the navicular horse or mule?
A horse can have lots of damage to the navicular bone and not be the source of the pain. Damage to the bone is the result of the pain in the back of the foot causing the horse to walk toe first. While you can't fix changes to the bone, it doesn't necessarily cause pain to the horse either. Rehabilitation has less to do with the changes in the navicular bone and more to do with how poorly developed the back of the foot is, and how much you can get the horse owner to take steps to develop the back of the foot. It doesn't have to be a death sentence. Treat the horse or mule with a natural trim. If there is still pain, boot and pad the horse. While some horses will remain pasture sound, needing to be ridden in boots and pads, others can recover and be sound riding barefoot animals. |
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