No Foot, No Horse

1. No Foot, No Horse

2. Why is this so meaningful? • 60% of the horse’s weight is supported on the front legs • If you have issues with the feet, the horse is worthless • Value of the horse depends upon ability of the horse to do work

3. Foot Problems • Did horses have serious foot problems when they lived in the wild? • NO!!! • Foot problems appeared after domestication • What caused foot problems? • Forced environment change • Soft pastures to hard roads • Exercising as they pleased to forced labor • Wholesome pastures to barn stalls where horses stand in feces, urine, & mud • Free choice maintenance rations to substantial artificial diets • “Fat farm” where horses shovel down grain & work little

4. Reasons for Shoeing • Shoes protect hooves from extreme wear, provide better traction, help correct defects of stance or gait, help cure diseased or defected hooves • Contracted heel • Thrush • Divided tendons • Provide relief from pain of injured parts • Hoof wall cracks • Bruised soles • Tendonitis

5. Reasons for NOT Shoeing • Augments shock & road concussion • Nail holes weaken the hoof wall • Nail holes can cause separation & allow for infection • If shoes remain on too long without trimming- strains flexor tendons • Worn shoes can become thin, loose, or bend • Shoes may shift & cause nail punctures in other legs • Corns on hooves

6. Structure of the Foot • Fibers of hoof wall look like hair & grow parallel to each other • Hoof grows at 45-55 degree angle to the ground • Rear hooves grow at a steeper angle than front hooves

7. Growth Rate of the Hoof • Normal growth rate is 3/8 of an inch per month • Growth varies • Slower during winter months • Hind hooves grow faster than front hooves • Less weight to carry • Hooves without shoes grow faster than shod hooves • Nails & shoes limit movement • Stallions’ hooves grow faster than hooves of mares or geldings

15. Hoof Wall Growth • Two processes: proliferation & cornification • Proliferation • Reproduction of epidermal cells • Replace hoof lost at ground surface due to normal wear & trimming • Provide sufficient cells to cover foot as it increases its volume between coronet & ground • Allow for repair & remodeling of internal hoof

16. Hoof Wall Growth • Cornification • Follows proliferation • Produce tough resilient cells found in outer hoof wall • Crucial for hoof strength • 4 step process • Normal growth requires cell proliferation & cornification to occur as sequential, coordinated processes

17. Cornification • Keratinization • Keratins provide epidermal cell strength, but allow cells to remain flexible • Cell Envelope Protein Synthesis • Provides proteins that form rigid cell envelope during final cornification of epidermal cells • Extracellular Matrix Secretion • Contributes to wall strength by cementing cornified epidermal cells together • Cell Envelope Formation • Produces tough resilient cells that define outer hoof wall characteristics

18. Nutrition • Minerals • Structural components in bones, joints, CT, & hoof wall • Critical roles in epidermal cell proliferation & cornification • Biotin • Cell-to-cell adhesion in outer hoof wall layer • Intercellular cementing substance • Water • Maintains hoof wall moisture content & tissue hydration

19. Flares • Outward distortions of hoof quarters • Typically involve one side of foot • Vary in severity • Progressive if left unattended • Tend to remodel coffin bone in response to altered distribution of load when left untreated • Common in horses with excessive hoof wall length

20. Club Foot • Wall upright (nearly vertical) with long heel • Can be inherited • Rapid growth • May appear following injury or disease that interferes with normal weight bearing

21. Shelly Feet • Chipping or flaking hoof walls • Breaking away of outer hoof wall at ground surface • Hoof has been allowed to grow too long • Mechanism in which normal unshod foot maintains its length

22. Quarter Crack • Crack in quarter area of hoof (back of hoof) • Treated by lacing the hoof

24. Thrush • Typically caused by wet, dirty conditions coming in constant contact with commissures of the hoof (along each side of the frog) • Copper sulfate used to help clear it up, along with regular cleaning & providing drier conditions • Bleach • Coppertox • Thrush Buster • Burnt Motor Oil • In tough cases, topically applying antibiotic Duracillian can work

25. Thrush • Characteristic odor • Gray to black discharge • Flakes away • Frog is softer, more fragile, & prone to tear • Creates conditions for infections

27. Abscess • Pocket of infection sometimes called a “gravel” • Works its way into white line of foot • If not treated, will migrate up to coronet band • Once there the pressure is relieved & the horse is no longer lame • Very common (especially when horse is barefoot) • May be associated with a “hot” nail • Most common cause of foot lameness with a sudden onset • If caught early, pared out successfully with wrapping & stall rest can fix them in a few weeks

28. Abscess • Will not show up on an x-ray • May be warm to the touch • Hoof testers can help determine location • Recovery can be easy if “release hole” is small • Can become a long & labor intensive ordeal • Wrapping every 2 days • Soaking & packing with agent

30. White Line Disease • Aka seedy toe • Separation of wall from sole at white line • Causes • Infections that invade inner stratum medium & weaken it to a point where outer wall & inner laminae separate • Biomechanical trauma (performance horses) • Premature cornification

31. White Line Disease • Chlorinated solution sometimes recommended for treatment • Progressive • Faster the treatment, the better • Allows for fungal infections to set up • Corrective shoeing

33. Laminitis • Also called founder • Lameness, inflammation, and increased temperature in the hooves • Severe lameness; permanently unsound • Never recovers to be completely sound • Improvement may allow light work • Coffin bone turns downward, front hoof wall separates, sole drops • Laminitis= pain of the laminae; founder= pain of the laminae WITH ROTATION OR SINKING

34. Laminitis • Causes • Carbohydrate overload • Nitrogen overload • Colic • Lush pastures • Frosted grass • Untreated infections • Insulin resistance

39. Navicular • Inflammation or degeneration of the navicular bone and its surrounding tissues, usually on the front feet • Associated with heel pain • Tip toe gait • Foot becomes upright & narrow • Contributing factors • Conformation defects (promote concussion) • Poor trimming, shoe selection, inappropriate shoe attachment • Working on steep hills, galloping, jumping • Standing in stalls • High weight-to-foot ratio

43. Detecting Lameness • SOUND IS DOWN • Head will go down on sound foot and UP ON LAME FOOT • Will put pressure on sound foot & tip-toe on lame foot • May be warm to touch • Watch horse at different gaits on hard surface • Harder to detect on hind legs • Watch horse walk away from you, lame leg hip will drop

44. Paths of Foot in Flight • Normal • Moves forward in a straight line • Toed Out • Travels forward in a series of inward arcs • Toed In • Pigeon toed • Travels forward in a series of outward arcs • Paddling

49. Gait Faults • Forging • Toe of rear hoof or shoe strikes heel of front hoof or shoe • “rolled toe” can fix this • Cross Firing • Same as forging but only in pacing horses • Toe of hind foot or shoe strikes heel of diagonal front hoof or shoe • Grab on middle side of toe of front shoe

50. Gait Faults • Interfering • Striking of inner surface of hoof or lower leg with hoof of opposite side • Forelegs • Shoeing can cause it • Squaring toe of hoof or shoe • Paddling • Tossing of heels of hoof outward • Doesn’t cause any damage • Common in young horses