Laminitis is one of the most serious and difficult-to-treat diseases horses can get, and only by learning everything about this problem can we prevent and treat it successfully. Enter the 14th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium held Jan. 25-27 in Louisville, Ky. This symposium has long been a mecca for farriers, researchers, and hoof-specialty veterinarians, who sat in rapt attention while listening to cutting-edge presentations on hoof microanatomy, biomechanics, navicular disease, wild vs. domestic horse hooves, properly documenting hoof treatment, photographic and radiographic techniques, possible mechanisms of laminitis, pain management, measurement of blood flow, and laminitis and navicular treatment. They also were treated to live shoeing demonstrations.

Ric Redden, DVM, symposium host and owner of the International Equine Podiatry Center in Versailles, Ky., began the symposium by discussing the differences between domestic horse hooves and the hooves of wild horses he has worked with near Las Vegas, Nev. While the wild horses’ hooves were quite variable in terms of moisture, growth, and bone alignment, the differences between them and domestic horse hooves–and the lower rates of several problems very common to domestic horses–have many people rethinking their concept of a horse’s ideal foot. “Researchers today need to find a way to standardize the model,” Redden emphasized, “or we have no common ground to talk about.”

Redden also discussed a new shoe he developed based on his experiences with the four-point trim and significantly lame horses. His new shoe, currently used only by him and called the “banana shoe” by many at his farm, moves breakover much farther back than normal and leaves an “air space” below the heels. This effectively allows the horse to load whatever region of the foot that is the most comfortable for him. “This also opens the angle of the tendon going over the navicular bone, and decreases the mechanical load on the bone,” Redden said. “It unloads the tendon significantly.”

David Hood, DVM, PhD, of the Texas A&M Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, discussed factors in making an accurate prognosis for recovery from laminitis. These include pathology (anatomic and physiological deviations from the normal state), pain, infection, treatment(s) applied, client sensitivity, goals of rehabilitation, and economics