1. Shoeing The Lame Horse
MPES
OVC Student Seminar
Mike Pownall, DVM, CF
McKee-Pownall Equine Services
www.mpequine.com
QuickTime™ and a
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2. 3 Things We Will Learn Today
• What are Farrier/Vet Roles?
• What are Some Common Foot Lameness?
• What are Treatments
3. Rule # 1
• Vets and Farriers must play well together
4. Rule # 1
• Vets and Farriers must play well together
5. Farrier and Vet Roles
Need to know what normal is
Each horse is different
Each Horse is DifferentEach Horse is Different
6. Farrier and Vet Roles
Assessing Balance
• Static
leg and hoof while standing
• Dynamic
leg and hoof in motion
13. Dynamic Balance
• How leg and hoof move together
• Problems can be due to shoeing,
conformation, lameness
• Factors to consider
Does the foot land flat
Difference between walk and trot
Difference when ridden?
14. Dynamic Balance
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Cinepak decompressor
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15. Strategy For Shoeing Lame Horses
• Know the Lameness
• Know the Shoe
• Know Team Strengths
16. Common Lameness's Helped By
Horseshoeing
• Laminitis/Founder
• “Navicular” or Heel Pain
• Toe & Quarter Cracks
• White Line Disease
• Abscesses
17. Laminitis & Founder
• Many treatments
• Challenging
• Many shoeing techniques
with little supporting
science
• Intensive supportive
therapy
30. Shoeing The Laminitic Horse
Stabilize Acute Cases
• Minimize further damage
• Too painful to shoe
• Sometimes all you need
• Great with grain overload
• Use high density styrofoam or Soft Ride boots
33. Shoeing The Laminitic Horse
Re-distribute Weight From Hoof Wall
• Decrease load on lamellae
• Use frog, bars and sole
• Utilize area behind true apex of frog
• Use radiographs and hoof testers
35. Shoeing The Laminitic Horse
Reduce Pull of DDFT
• Decrease tearing forces on laminae
• Surgical and shoeing techniques
• Tenotomy often essential
• Raise heels
Extremely high heels leads to compression of P3
• Facilitate breakover
50. Navicular - Is It Real?
• Radiographic lesions are confusing.
• Diagnostic blocks are confusing
51. Shoeing For Navicular
• Often need concurrent
medical therapy
• Access hoof balance and
correct that first
• Increasing heels will work if
DDFT is involved in acute
cases
• Wedging heels too much
will lead to coffin joint
problems and crushed
heels.
52. Crushed and Bruised Heels
• Long toe - underrun
heels
• Often misdiagnosed
as navicular
• Takes a long time to
correct
• Often need to wait
until show season is
over
53. Crushed and Bruised Heels
Goals of Therapy
• Balance feet
• Remove long and damaged
heel tubules
• Shoes to minimize forces
on heels
• Place shoes where you
want heels to be
• Medication to reduce
inflammation
• Patience
55. Crushed and Bruised Heels
Therapy
Wedging collapsed heels often counter productive
56. Sheared Heels
• Balance, pain and
conformation related
• Rarely diagnosed
• Very painful
• Need to stabilize the
foot to stop shearing
• Long term therapy
57. Thrush
• Found in
Horses that are inactive
and have club feet
Lameness in affected limb
Horses with pads
• Lack of blood flow to area
bacterial and fungal
infection of frog
• Penetrates sensitive
tissue of sub solar region
• Mimics Navicular
58. Thrush Therapy
• Can take a long time to treat
• Balance feet
• Eliminate other source of lameness.
• Animalintex to drain infection
• Remove infected tissue
• Thrushbuster
http://www.mpequine.com/Treat_Thrush.aspx
59. Quarter Cracks
• Caused by medial-lateral imbalance
Wedging up one side
Landing harder on one side
• Focal pressure causes hoof wall to
break down
• Pain caused by shearing of torn hoof
wall
• Sometimes not noticeable on hoof
wall
• Coronary band is jammed up at site
60. Quarter Cracks
QuickTime™ and a
Cinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
61. Quarter Cracks
QuickTime™ and a
Cinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
63. Toe Cracks
• Caused by long toes
or excess rasping of
toes
• Set shoe back
• Clean out crack
• Adhesive or staples
once infection cleared
like quarter cracks
• Superficial cracks
respond to balance
65. White Line Disease
• Fungal or bacterial infection of white
line
• Commonly called “gravel” or “seedy
toe”
• Often not noticed until it has
undermined a lot of hoof wall
• Topical therapy is not satisfying due
to lack of penetration
• Best therapy is hoof wall removal
• Often need hoof wall support like a
laminitic horse
67. Abscess
• Minimize digging at sole
Damage from digging is
worse than abscess
Drill hole in hoof wall to drain
abscess
• Soak with Animalintex for 2-3
days
• Epson salt traps abscess in
hoof
Good once abscess has
broken through
• Sugardyne or Clean Trax once
abscess has begun to drain
69. Shoeing the Lame Horse
• Rare to have quick fix!
• Interferes with show season
• Teamwork
• Price
• Aftercare concerns!
Turnout
Time involved in treatments
Causes
Conformation
Shoeing
Other lamenesses
Hard ground
Poor riding
video
Egg bar or eggbar-heartbar
Can cover crack with adhesive once infection is cleared up
Wires and nails rarely needed if foot is balanced properly
Need to remove infected tissue and a margin
May need to do in stages if widespread
Need a frog support shoe if affects more than 1/3 of hoof
Problems occur
If covered too soon - abscess
Don’t support wall - laminits