| Equine Splints: Causes and Cures |
July/2009 |
Learn how to keep splints (bony lower leg swellings) from becoming permanent blemishes or problems that interfere with a horse's athletic career.
Your 2 1/2-year-old horse has been in training for a few months, but even though you're taking it slowly and steadily and not pushing too hard, he sometimes comes up lame during or after a workout.
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| Diagnosing Lameness Early |
May/2009 |
Catching and addressing a lameness problem early, when you first notice something is "not quite right," gives your horse a better chance for a quick recovery.
Horse owners dread the day their horse "isn't traveling quite right.
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| Windpuffs in Horses |
March/2009 |
These fluid-filling swellings often are just blemishes, but attention should be given if they are new or associated with lameness.
Windpuffs are soft, fluid-filled swellings toward the back of the fetlock joint, resulting from inflamed deep digital flexor tendon sheaths. Most commonly, these puffy enlargements are symptomless blemishes--old and cold, the result of years of hard work.
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| The Year-Round Hoof |
January/2009 |
From practicing daily hands-on care to taking baseline photos for later comparison, here are tips for keeping your horse’s feet healthy.
How much attention do you give your horse's feet? Many times it's just the old once-over with the hoof pick ..
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| Thrush Diagnosis and Treatment |
November/2008 |
Despite good hoof hygiene and exercise, horses sometimes get this unpleasant condition; rapid recognition and proactive management can prevent deeper damage.
You've seen it many a time--a horse gallops across a field and dirt clods fly every which way.
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| Investigating Palmar Foot Pain |
September/2008 |
“We have two papers that will be published this year comparing horses without radiographic changes that were diagnosed by MRI with damage in the heel region,” says Sarah Sampson, DVM, of Washington State University.
“We looked at 72 horses with clinical signs (of palmar foot pain) that have become lame within the last six months.
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| Cases that Mimic Navicular Disease |
September/2008 |
"With MRI we've found horses with coffin bone fractures that weren't visible on X rays, but were treated like navicular horses because they blocked to the heel," says Sarah Sampson, DVM, of Washington State University. "If these are managed like navicular horses, they don't heal because they don't get the rest they need and are not put into a shoe that completely eliminates movement in the bone.
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| Hope for Navicular Horses |
September/2008 |
Know the injury to your horse's foot before calling it "navicular."
In earlier years, a diagnosis of navicular disease was often considered career-ending for a horse. Chronic lameness was typical, in spite of therapeutic shoeing, medication, etc.
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| Barefoot vs. Shod |
August/2008 |
This point/counterpoint discusses the controversial issue of whether horses need to wear shoes.
Back in 2002, Tufts University hosted a seminar for farriers and veterinarians to review the barefoot hoof care methods devised by German veterinarian and author Hiltrud Strasser, Dr. med vet.
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| Inside the Laminitic Foot |
July/2008 |
Learn how equine podiatrists assess, treat, and monitor laminitis.
Laminitis is a terrifying mystery to many horse owners, in part because in the early stages a horse with tremendous damage can look and act much like a mild case. A great deal of damage can occur even when the horse appears to have a favorable response to treatment.
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| Inside the Club Foot |
May/2008 |
Most horses have mismatched feet--is yours one of them?
A large majority of horses, regardless of breed, have a high-low foot syndrome where one front foot has a higher angle and different shape than the other. A close look at the characteristics of the high foot qualifies it as a club foot.
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| Healthy Hooves, Inside and Out |
March/2008 |
Do your horse’s hooves have these healthy characteristics?
Much has been written about the equine foot, yet many of us know little about how it's really supposed to look and work. Sound horses don't all have the same size or shape feet (just like humans), and that fact often makes it more difficult to understand the healthy foot's form and function.
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| To Support and Protect |
January/2008 |
Boots and bandages can help protect a horse's legs and provide some support, but they shouldn't be relied on as a substitute for good conditioning.
No horse has perfect conformation, nor does every horse have the perfect job or the perfect footing in which to work.
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| Synovitis |
November/2007 |
Good synovial health is essential for proper joint function.
A horse's joints are subjected to stresses, pressures, and cyclic trauma every day of the animal's life. The greatest stress occurs when the horse is moving rapidly, jumping, or sliding to a stop, but even when he is just walking around the pasture or paddock, some stress is placed on the joints of the legs.
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| Healing Hoof Abscesses |
September/2007 |
Hoof abscesses are a major cause of acute lameness, but early detection can mean a quick recovery
One day your horse is perfectly sound, the next he's acting as if he's got a nail in his foot. As you wait for the veterinarian to arrive, you envision worst-case scenarios.
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| All Stocked Up |
July/2007 |
It happened again: Your horse was fine for the entire weekend of riding, but when you got him ready for another weekend packed with activities, you discovered his hind limbs were swollen. You know it's not overuse; the boarding barn provides limited turnout, and you usually can't ride Monday through Friday, so your weekend warrior gets plenty of stall rest during the week.
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| Chronic Laminitis |
May/2007 |
When a horse founders and the damaged laminae that hold the coffin bone to the hoof wall release their grip, the coffin bone is no longer held in place. It rotates (tips down at the front) or slips downward in the hoof.
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| Correcting Shelly Feet |
March/2007 |
Shelly, crumbly feet can be a challenge for horses and their owners. The feet break down too readily if the horse is barefoot, and they are unable to hold nails if he's shod. In this article we'll look at several causes and potential treatments for shelly feet.
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| Chill Out on Hoof Care Concerns |
November/2006 |
Whether winter means a well-deserved break for your horse or the start of the "snowbird circuit," your horse's hooves might need some special "seasonal" attention. Exactly what adjustments you'll want to make depends on the type of winter weather you endure, how much and where you ride, and, of course, your individual horse.
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| Good Foot Gone Bad |
September/2006 |
It seems like only yesterday your horse soared over that four-foot oxer, slid to that perfect stop in a reining pattern, or ambled smoothly down that shady trail. Now, watching him limp three-legged down the barn aisle, you wonder, "How could this have happened so fast? How could I have not seen this coming?"
Most hoof problems don't magically occur overnight.
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| White Line Disease Diagnosis and Treatment |
July/2006 |
The white line of the foot can be seen by looking at the sole of your horse's hoof. The area (that looks whitish) between the outside hoof wall and where it meets the sole is the white line. When this becomes damaged, it allows fungus and/or bacteria to invade and separate the layers of the hoof wall.
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| Hoof Cracks: Causes and Repair |
May/2006 |
Your horse's feet are some of the most important structures contributing to his performance ability, and most people do what they can to keep them healthy. Unfortunately, things can and do go wrong with your horse that can cause hoof cracks to form.
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| Feel the Beat |
March/2006 |
It's a thrilling moment for spectator and exhibitor alike on a steamy August night in Freedom Hall, Louisville, Ky. The place is filled wall-to-wall with spectators. Some are in elevated private suites surrounding the arena floor.
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| Broken Legs Aren't Death |
January/2006 |
Looking at a horse's delicate limbs, it's a wonder that those bones can put up with any sort of pressure at all. Equine bones are very tough, but fractures still happen. When they do, even the most stoic of horse owners can feel desperate.
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| One Step at a Time: Hoof Trimming and Leg Stress |
January/2006 |
Have you ever walked in shoes that you've had forever that are just a little worn to one side of the heel or the other? Did you notice that after awhile your knees would start to hurt, or maybe your ankles? Now think about wearing those shoes 24 hours a day, every day, for an entire month without ever taking them off. Image how miserable you'd feel.
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| Shock Wave Therapy for Pain Relief and Healing |
November/2005 |
Take a lame horse, inject him with stem cells or cells from a pig's bladder lining, zap him with extracorporeal shock waves, and what do you get? That's just one of several research projects involving extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) that are underway or have been recently completed. Following are reports of some recent research using ESWT to help you work with your veterinarian to decide if this treatment is right for your horse.
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| At What Age to Shoe? |
September/2005 |
Questions involving the ifs and whens to shoe horses have been debated for years. There are those who will argue that a horse's foot should not have metal attached via nails under any circumstances, while others will opt for shoeing certain horses at a very early age. As is often the case, the proper approach is somewhere in between.
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| Stone Bruises |
July/2005 |
Few occurrences are more disturbing to a horse owner than lameness. A lame horse is one that is idle in a stall or paddock instead of being enjoyed in the show ring or on the trail. Sometimes lameness can be brought on by a complex and serious cascade of events such as with laminitis, but at other times the lameness is the result of something that seems minor--like a stone bruise.
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| Managing Wet Feet |
May/2005 |
Hoof care is one of the most important aspects of quality horse management. Hoof trimming, shoeing if necessary, good nutrition to ensure good hoof growth, and inspection for disease or injury to the foot are just a few of the tasks a horse owner needs to worry about. Yet no matter how much attention is paid to these steps, if your horse's feet are constantly wet, this can create a disastrous situation for proper hoof health.
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| Hoof Boots: Protection Without Permanence |
March/2005 |
We all need protection from the elements. That goes for your horse's hooves as well. Millennia ago, when humans first vaulted aboard equine backs and guided them over terrain they probably would not otherwise have traversed, the value of providing protection for hooves became clear--as the leather "hipposandals" and early iron shoes unearthed by archaeologists attest.
These days, of course, farriery has become both a science and an art, up to most of the challenges modern-day equines face.
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| Dealing with a Broken Foot (Coffin Bone Fractures) |
November/2004 |
When it comes to caring for your horses, you have a lot to think about--diet, training, exercise, and welfare. You don't have to tell us he's worth it (although you think twice on the days he snorts on your white shirt). But there is one part of caring for a horse that every owner dreads and most likely still experiences: Lameness.
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| MRI Reveals Heel Problems |
September/2004 |
Equine foot problems come in a variety of forms, but they have one thing in common: They all pose a concern for the horse owner because without healthy feet, a horse's ability to do much of anything is severely compromised. The old expression "no foot, no horse" was appropriate when coined, and it remains so today.
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| Problems in the Hip and Pelvis |
July/2004 |
When you think about equine lameness, you probably think first about the bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the leg, and of course the hoof. But lameness can also stem from trouble higher up the skeleton, including the pelvic (or sacroiliac) region. While considered relatively uncommon, pelvis-based lameness might be more prevalent than previously thought.
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| Foot Care for Foals |
June/2004 |
A foal's future performance in competition, or as a pleasure riding companion, depends in large part on how his feet are cared for in the first six months of his life. Normally, hoof care for a foal is best started at 30 days, according to Stephen O'Grady, DVM, MRCVS, a professional farrier with Northern Virginia Equine in The Plains, Va.
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| Joint Injections: A Good Idea? |
May/2004 |
If you've been around horses, particularly performance horses, for even a short while, you've probably met someone who's had a horse's joints injected. The procedure--which involves injecting medication directly into the joint to combat such problems as synovitis, osteoarthritis, and arthrosis--is now commonplace.
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| Managing Thin, Shelly Feet |
March/2004 |
Poor genetics, environment, nutrition, and foot care are the main causes of thin, shelly feet according to Ken Marcella, DVM, and farrier Jaye Perry. Marcella co-owns Chattahoochee Equine in Canton, Ga., and Perry, a farrier based in Cumming, Ga.
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| Bursitis and Synovitis |
December/2003 |
A swelling on the limb that might or might not be accompanied by lameness could be the first sign of bursitis or synovitis. These are similar, moderately common inflammatory conditions of the structures that produce synovial (joint) fluid.
"When synovial structures become inflamed, distension (swelling) and pain can follow," says Joanne Kramer, DVM, Dipl.
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| The Basics of Breakover |
November/2003 |
What exactly is breakover? Most would answer that it is the horse's heel lifting off the ground and rotating over the toe as his foot leaves the ground. Breakover is simple in its definition, but pretty complex in its implications for your horse's movement and soundness.
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| If Your Horse's Feet Could Talk |
October/2003 |
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article gives horse owners a glimpse into the methods used by one experienced veterinarian to monitor the feet of his clients' horses. Your veterinarian might have developed his/her own special way to follow the normal/abnormal foot, or you might be looking for a place to start a program to track your horse's foot health.
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| Shock Wave Therapy for Horses |
September/2003 |
What is shock wave therapy? Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) focuses a highly concentrated, powerful acoustical (sound) energy source to a focal area. The shock waves induce increased activity of bone-producing cells and might also lead to increased circulation in the focal region.
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| Anatomy of a Trim |
August/2003 |
Why do we ask farriers to take knives and nippers (and sometimes a whole lot more) to our horses' feet every six weeks? For many of us, it has always been just one of those things you knew you had to do if you had horses. And we might have also wondered how to evaluate the trim when it was done.
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| Ringbone and Sidebone |
July/2003 |
Back when the sound of heavy, steel-shod hooves rang out on cobblestone streets, every horse owner was familiar with the signs--heat, swelling, shortened or shuffling stride, and the bony ridges developing where all used to be smooth and sleek. Ringbone and sidebone, two closely related orthopedic problems of the lower limbs, used to be considered almost inevitable hallmarks of the working harness horse, and they are still distressingly common in horses which deal with heavy-duty concussive forces and those with certain conformational problems.
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| Stop Problems Before They Start |
June/2003 |
Thought you knew the latest in keeping your horse healthy from head to toe? Think again! Richard Mansmann, VMD, PhD, from Central Carolina Equine Practice in Chapel Hill, N.C.
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| Phew! Stinky Feet! |
May/2003 |
Thrush is very common, and it typically is a mild disease that can be easily treated. More importantly, it can be prevented with adequate foot management and good stable husbandry. However, if you choose to ignore these preventive measures, or you come into possession of a horse with thrush, it needs to be addressed immediately and aggressively as complications and chronic lameness issues can result.
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| Navicular Syndrome/Heel Pain |
April/2003 |
There is probably no truer adage, "No hoof, no horse." Without this solid foundation, a horse cannot perform to his potential no matter how well trained, how fit, or how athletic he might be. A steady clip-clop rhythm at the trot gives you a sense of well-being as each hoof beat chimes aloud that your horse is sound.
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| When Your Horse's Muscles Ache |
March/2003 |
Equine muscle injuries are often elusive, leading to frustration for the rider and a challenging diagnosis for the veterinarian. Since muscle injury can accompany and/or mimic skeletal problems, tendon or ligament injury, or neurological disease, diagnosis can be quite complicated. The best way to prevent muscle injury is to keep horses in regular exercise programs and avoid demanding more of them than their level of conditioning permits.
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| Classic and Australian Stringhalt |
February/2003 |
It's a disturbing and distressing sight: You're backing your horse when one hind leg jerks forward and upward, nearly clipping his abdomen. It's the same every time you back your horse--this strange movement where his leg snaps up toward his belly. There's no mistaking it: Your horse has stringhalt.
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| Training to Shoe Horses |
January/2003 |
Shoeing horses isn't easy. To do the job correctly, a farrier has to have an understanding of equine leg and hoof anatomy; knowledge of the biomechanics of these structures; enough biology knowledge to understand how the horse's soft tissues grow, do their jobs, and heal from injury; metalworking skill to create or modify shoes as needed; and the practice necessary to combine all of this knowledge to produce properly shod, comfortable horses.
The farrier's trade isn't one that's learned overnight.
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| Healing Hoof Cracks |
December/2002 |
Hoof cracks are a common occurrence in the feet of many domesticated horses, and they can range in severity from a minor blemish to a cause of serious lameness. Causative factors can vary widely, ranging from injury to imbalance of the foot.
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| Underrun Heels--Not So Innocent |
November/2002 |
Underrun heels sounds like an innocent term. Certainly it doesn't strike fear into the hearts of horse owners in the same way as, say, navicular syndrome. It should.
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| Hoof Dressings: What Studies Show |
October/2002 |
Hoof dressings aren't always what they're cracked up to be--at least not in the opinions of some experts. Ilka P. Wagner, DVM, owner of Equine Veterinary Services (Texas), and Susan Kempson, BSc, PhD, senior lecturer in Preclinical Veterinary Sciences in the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh, have studied the efficacy of hoof dressings. Robert Sigafoos, Certified Journeyman Farrier, chief of farrier services and director of the Applied Polymer Research Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, bases his opinions (self-described as "subjective") on 28 years of experience.
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| Club Feet in Adult Horses |
September/2002 |
Some women love high heels. Walking in them might take some getting used to, but they provide the perfect look for big-city club-hopping or schmoozing at the latest gallery opening. They're not so great, though, for jogging or other sports.
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| Forever Foundered? |
August/2002 |
When I rode past a nearby racing Quarter Horse trainer's farm, my gelding Pokey would always nicker at the trainer's permanent lawn ornament--an ancient black pony mare who slowly cropped the front yard, unfettered by fences or even a halter. "Oh, she's foundered bad," her owner said.
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| Is Your Horse's Soundness Chipping Away? |
July/2002 |
The old adage, "Something's gotta give," holds true when you accidentally bump a dinner plate on the counter and it chips or you bang your car door on the car next to you and the paint chips. Trauma inflicted upon an object can cause a chip.
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| Treat Hoof Punctures Early |
May/2002 |
It seems like such a mild problem, a nail or splinter in the tough hoof. The solution also seems simple--take the object out, clean the foot up, give the horse some time off, and everything will be all right. For superficial hoof wounds, that's pretty much all it takes.
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| Straightening Crooked Legs |
April/2002 |
It is not unusual for foals to be born with some level of angular limb deformity, but this becomes a problem when the deformity is severe and doesn't self-correct quickly. If the deviation is relatively minor, it might be resolved with stall rest, corrective shoeing, and/or a splint.
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| Emergency Shoe Removal |
March/2002 |
Everyone who owns a shod horse will have that horse lose a shoe at some point. Popped clinches, missing nails, interference from one limb to another, or an overreach can cause a shoe to come off. It might be a nuisance, but the shoe normally pulls off completely when it catches on something solid.
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| Can You Influence Hoof Growth? |
February/2002 |
We ask an awful lot of an animal who walks on his middle toenails. Humans have recognized for centuries that the foundation of a horse's soundness lies in his hooves--"No foot, no horse" is about as basic a principle as there is. It all comes down to the forces exerted by a 1,000- to 2,000-pound animal on four rather small and specialized bits of keratin.
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| Winter Traction Devices: Get a Grip Before You Slip! |
January/2002 |
Snow and ice during winter can cause footing problems for horses, especially those which are called upon to do something other than loaf in the pasture or paddock. The problems include snow and ice, which translate into difficulty in maintaining balance on slippery surfaces and possible injury to horse and rider.
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| Nail-Free Footwear |
December/2001 |
Tough. Resilient. Protective. Whether on a human foot or a horse's hoof, a shoe supports weight and helps one overcome environmental hazards. With today’s technology, equine footwear can "stick" to a hoof without the traditional nails. Tough synthetics allow a shoe to adhere to the bottom of the hoof, or fit around the hoof wall.
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| Hoof Pads for Healing |
November/2001 |
They come with an assortment of labels: "high-tech hoof pads," "comfort system pads," "hoof support systems," etc. They come in a variety of thicknesses and materials. But by whatever they’re dubbed, these designer pads have two things in common: They are constructed of space-age materials, and they’re used for addressing various physical problems.
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| Navicular Syndrome |
October/2001 |
Are America's horses getting lamer? Are we asking too much of them? Are they just not building (or breeding) them the way they used to? Call it what you like, but an epidemic of navicular-type lameness problems is sidelining an alarming percentage of our performance horses, causing early retirements, drops in performance levels, hard-to-measure pain and suffering for horses, and concern from owners.
The best treatment for a navicular-type lameness is avoiding it in the first place.
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| Feeding the Foot |
October/2001 |
Can you feed a foot? "You bet!" Say a dozen ads in this (and almost every other) horse magazine. Can you improve a horse's flexibility at higher levels of performance or increase the quality of joint fluid by feeding a supplement? "It's scientifically proven" say another dozen ads.
What these ads don't say is that adding supplements to your horse's diet will not bring the same results in every horse, nor will the results be immediately evident.
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| The Natural Hoof: A Sign of the Times |
October/2001 |
The popular image of the American "wild" horse has gone through a lot of changes in recent years. Once the epitome of the wild and free animal in a Marlboro cigarette commercial, the wild horse soon was denigrated to the enemy of the Western rancher, a competitor for forage with valuable cattle during years of drought. Then came the Bureau of Land Management years, when wild horses were rounded up and "adopted" by well-meaning owners, soon followed by the sanctuary concept, indicating that the hope for wild horses was to find areas of the country that could be set aside for them.
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| The Brave New World: Navicular Syndrome Treatment |
October/2001 |
In spite of the best care given to horses in the history of their domesticated lives, record numbers of carefully bred, reared, and trained saddle horses are prevented from fully athletic lives by the crippling disease known as "navicular syndrome." More a condition than a disease, navicular syndrome mystifies the veterinary profession by existing on several levels, and by defying the rules for both diagnosis and prognosis as set down by medical guidelines.
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| Hoof Preparation Products |
October/2001 |
Walk into any tack store and you can smell the hoof care section before you even get there. Pine tar, petroleum, formaldehyde, and a long list of secret (and often smelly) ingredients tickle your nostrils. "Oh, well, it's good for him," you sigh, remembering how many pairs of jeans you've ruined with hoof ointment, and the time you accidentally pushed back your hair with a brush covered in pine tar.
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| Equine Foot Research In America |
October/2001 |
Back in the 1800s, the world really could have used a better hoof on a better horse. History tells us that breeders tried to comply, by including soundness as a criterion for reproduction. Veterinary medicine complied with treatments and prevention regimens for communicable equine diseases.
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| Tending To A Tender Foot |
October/2001 |
Although the equine hoof is a marvel of resiliency, it’s not made of rubber, or titanium, or diamond. As a living structure, it has its vulnerabilities, and when faced with unusual stresses, it shows them. Stone bruises, those reddish-purple (on a white hoof) or dark gray (on a dark hoof) spots sometimes visible on the soles of your horse’s feet, especially right after the farrier’s knife has removed the surface crud, are one of the most common signs that the hoof has taken some abuse.
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| On Equal Footing |
October/2001 |
"It's too hard." "It’s too deep." "It’s too slick." "Watch out for that low spot!" At horse shows, exhibitors often find fault with the footing in the competition arenas. They complain about the ground, blaming show management for how the surface inhibits horses’ performances or even endangers animals’ well-being.
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| Horse Show Shoes |
October/2001 |
Winter’s finally over and you’re ready to roll down the road. Your horse is fit, you’ve been coached to new heights, and visions of blue ribbons dance in your dreams. Suddenly, your happy dream turns into a nightmare as you recall what happened last year at that horse show, when your horse needed to be re-shod at the show.
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| Nail-Quicked |
October/2001 |
Shoeing is necessary to protect the hooves of many hard-working horses, and nails are of course an important part of the process. Ideally, horseshoe nails enter the outer hoof wall, which lies adjacent to the "quick," or the sensitive laminae inside the hoof capsule. Occasionally, however, a nail is placed wrong and enters or presses against the sensitive tissue.
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| Puncture Wounds in Horses |
September/2001 |
A puncture wound in any horse is cause for serious concern. For one thing, it can be difficult to treat. For another, it carries with it the danger that the horse might contract tetanus, also known in the horse community as lockjaw. Whatever the term, the condition can result in the horse’s death.
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| Hoof Repair |
September/2001 |
Your show jumper lands off a five-foot vertical and is cutting right, thinking a few fences ahead. The footing is just a little bit sticky from the rain storm last night, but not to worry--you have a nice set of those European show jumping studs securely set in the shoes. As the leading foot grabs the ground, the shoe seats firmly in the muck, but the foot starts to rotate clockwise atop the shoe as some of the nails pull through the wall.
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| Shoeing The Laminitic Horse |
September/2001 |
Of all the medical crises that can afflict a horse, laminitis surely is one of the most alarming. Horribly painful, and potentially devastating to his long-term soundness, the strange syndrome whereby the coffin bone inside the hoof begins to tear away from the laminae (the accordion-like soft tissues between the bone and the hoof wall) quite rightly strikes fear into the hearts of owners and trainers. Once the process has begun, it is often difficult to stop the cascade of metabolic events that can leave a horse's coffin bone many degrees out of position, sometimes even punching through the sole of the foot.
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| The Barefoot Horse: Romance vs. Reality |
September/2001 |
Most of us had a childhood that involved childrens' horse books and the wonderful, romantic images they conjured: A magnificent horse--most likely a black stallion--galloping free, au natural. Nostrils flaring, legs charging, mane blowing, tail flowing.
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| Computerizing the Hoof |
September/2001 |
"The biggest problem as I see it," quips Wendy Wergeles, 20-year trainer and event rider of Cottonwood Farm, Los Alamos, Calif., "is that horse owners and even novice competitors understand very little about their horses' feet. They hire a farrier to shoe their horses and hope the job got done well without really knowing how to evaluate whether it did or not.
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| Don't Trifle With the Stifle |
September/2001 |
For a sharp-eyed individual, it doesn't take much to spot a stifle problem: The tell-tale swelling in the stifle area is a big hint. But the stifle is a complicated joint. Knowing the particular part of the stifle that's affected and the precise cause of the disorder is critical for implementing the correct therapy and maximizing recovery.
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| Is He Really Lame? |
August/2001 |
You want your horse to be sound and stay sound. But calling the vet out for a thorough workup every time your horse stumbles or acts stiff can get costly, and waste your veterinarian's valuable time--especially if those problems turn out to be training troubles in disguise. On the other hand, leaving a sore horse untreated might exacerbate the current problem or create a snowball effect, leading to additional pains and discomfort throughout the horse's body.
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| Barefoot Benefits |
July/2001 |
We often assume a horse needs shoes without really thinking about why or how that affects a horse's overall health. Yet standard veterinary texts, such as books by James Rooney, DVM, and O.R.
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| Form and Function of Joints |
June/2001 |
There is a definite correlation between joint angle, hoof flight pattern, and weight bearing. One might even wax a bit poetic and declare that as the joint angles, so flies and lands the hoof. That's where the poetry ends, however, because if there are improper joint and/or hoof angles during weight bearing, there can be lameness problems.
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| Navicular Problems: Symptoms and Treatment |
June/2001 |
So many times, a horse gets labeled as suffering from "navicular," and people shy away from him as if he were Typhoid Mary, not knowing how to treat or even visualize the problem. In recent decades, however, much has been learned about the area where the navicular bone lies.
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| A Step Ahead--Tips on Regular Trimming and Shoeing |
June/2001 |
At one point in my life, I decided to learn about farriery. I enrolled in an intensive 10-day short- course. During the day, we would fashion shoes, trim horses, and when the instructor thought we were ready, attach the shoes to an equine foot.
Each evening was devoted to classroom sessions.
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| Club Foot Concerns |
April/2001 |
Club feet might be one of the most common growth problems in young horses. Affecting youngsters primarily between birth and 6 months of age, the club foot actually is a flexural deformity of the distal interphalangeal joint (coffin joint) caused by a shortening of the musculotendinous unit of the deep digital flexor tendon. As a result, the hoof capsule becomes distorted, the hoof angle approaches 60° or greater, and the horse begins walking on its toe.
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| Thrush in Horses |
January/2001 |
A great many farm and ranch boys and girls of my generation grew up with the time-worn admonition that “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Usually, the words came from a determined mother who was shepherding her brood toward the bathtub. There was a good reason for mothers to be determined that their young charges cleanse hands and bodies after a busy day in the dirt, dust, and animal waste of a farm or ranch.
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| Sole Bruising |
December/2000 |
A bruised sole can happen as quickly and simply as a horse stepping on a rock or working on a hard surface. It can occur as the result of excessive hoof trimming, or be associated with laminitis. Sole bruising can be an uncomplicated condition that responds to simple treatments, or be part of an underlying disease process that requires careful veterinary management.
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| Finding a Farrier |
October/2000 |
If you’ve ever moved to a new town, you know how difficult it can be to find good service professionals: auto mechanics, hairdressers, doctors, dentists, and so on. You know your needs, but how do you select the appropriate providers when you know little or nothing about them, other than what you read in Yellow Pages listings or see in advertisements?
First-time horse owners, or those who are moving to a new area, face the same dilemma when it comes to selecting their equines’ health-care providers.
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| Osselets |
September/2000 |
Osselets--it's one of those obscure and shadowy terms out of the bowels of a Victorian veterinary manual, something you could lump in with mysterious and vaguely distasteful-sounding conditions called lampas, sweeny, or fistulous withers. We don't hear these terms all that often today; many were problems suffered mostly by 19th-century workhorses with punishing schedules and ill-fitting tack, and some have since been redefined (or, in the case of lampas, are now understood to be perfectly normal, and not a pathology at all!).
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| Bar Shoes |
July/2000 |
Once regarded as pretty radical, bar shoes now are experiencing something of a renaissance. In particular, egg bar shoes are being fitted to more feet now more than ever before-even those belonging to horses in high-intensity athletic careers, such as racing or showjumping. The reason? Simple--they work!
The term "bar shoe" encompasses any type of shoe with a closed heel rather than an open heel, including the straight bar shoe, which is a regular shoe with a bar of steel or aluminum welded across its heels.
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| Hoof Abscesses |
April/2000 |
A hoof abscess is one of the most common causes of lameness in horses. It occurs swiftly and usually needlessly--a nail or sharp piece of wire or metal is left lying about, an unlucky horse steps on the object, penetration occurs, and is followed by acute lameness and infection.
Since most of us have had our own similar, barefoot encounters with a stone, nail, piece of glass, or piece of wood, it's not hard recalling the pain of even a fairly superficial penetration, one that we humans usually treat quickly and effectively.
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| Ringbone |
February/2000 |
My horse has been diagnosed with ringbone. The veterinarian said there is no real cure, but that my horse can stay in competition if I take care of the condition. What can you tell me about ringbone?
Ringbone, a lameness disease of the pastern and coffin joints, is a degenerative disorder that has no cure.
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| Problem Feet |
January/2000 |
It takes nearly a year for the hoof to grow down from the coronary band to the ground. Therefore, anything that happens to the horse -- whether specific trauma to the foot or a systemic problem -- can affect the health of the hoof for a long time. Add into that equation that many horses genetically have feet that are not equipped to handle the day-to-day stresses of their work, and a bad shoeing job every now and then, and you have the ingredients for disaster.
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| A Footwear Primer |
November/1999 |
Some horse owners have little more than a passing acquaintance with those things that are nailed onto the bottoms of their animals’ feet. The shoes are there (they hope) when they pick up the hooves to clean them, and once every six weeks or so they write a check to the farrier. Such owners might not be remiss in their horses’ care and management, but if they would take the time to learn about the various types of equine footwear, they would be better able to make informed decisions as to which shoes suit their horses best, and which farrier should put them on.
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| Sheared Heels: Nature or Nurture? |
September/1999 |
Have you ever paid attention to the way people walk? Some are pigeon-toed, others are "duck-footed." Some wear the insides of their shoe heels; others do just the opposite. Yet, most are perfectly "sound" and healthy.
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| Foal Limbs And Feet |
June/1999 |
(Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted from exclusivelyequine.com/ViewProduct.aspx?productID=B11-1018(BHP)" target=_blank>Understanding The Foal, a book by Christina S. Cable, DVM, Diplomate ACVS, and one of the series of books in The Horse Health Care Library.
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| Emergency Hoof Care: Pulled Shoes |
April/1999 |
Have you ever noticed a group of serious "bikers" out on the highway on a weekend? Somewhere behind them you’ll see a support vehicle, usually a van, full of tools, food and drink, luggage, and with room to load on a motorcycle or two in the event of a breakdown. The man (or woman) behind the wheel is called the "road captain.
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| Pasture Paranoia: Laminitis Prevention |
February/1999 |
Ah, springtime. Can't you just see those rolling green pastures of Kentucky's Bluegrass, dotted with grazing bloodstock? Their fetlocks are buried, the grass is lush, the dew's shining on each strand of grass and..
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| 10 Tips For Winter Hoof Care |
January/1999 |
Does the sound of sleigh bells set your nerves on edge, anticipating a wreck on the icy patch down the road? Do you dream of the day next spring when you will be able to see your horse below his knees? Do you lie awake at night designing heating wires that can be implanted in horseshoe pads to melt the ice balls? Have you dreamed of sandpaper inserts for custom hoof pads? If so, you are not alone.
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| Hoof Wall Wonders |
November/1998 |
The topic for this month's "Step by Step" is white line disease. Nothing would please me more than to write a helpful, informative article on white line disease for horse owners, but at this point, that article would have to be very, very short. We know very little about white line disease.
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| Life as a Layup |
October/1998 |
If you think that "layup farm" is a summer basketball camp run by Rick Pitino, think again. Some lucky horse owners among us might never have to know what a layup farm is, nor need one for their horses.
A layup farm is a rehabilitation facility for horses, primarily those recovering from lameness or some sort of surgery that requires professional care.
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| Pounding The Pavement |
September/1998 |
In England, tradition dictates that foxhunting horses be turned out in the spring and brought in during late summer, when they are summarily trotted on tarred roads in a process known as "legging up" in preparation for the season to begin in the fall. Ouch.
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| Egg Bar Shoes |
August/1998 |
She was holding the lead line so tightly her knuckles were white. Her eyes were glued to the farrier's fingers as they felt the horse's coronary band. Then she looked into the eyes of the veterinarian and wailed, "You've got to do something! I have to show this horse this weekend, and he can't go to a horse show wearing a bar shoe.
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| Where Did All The Farriers Go? The AFA Convention |
July/1998 |
The same message echoed from a thousand telephone answering machines across the country in February, and if you happened to have a horse throw a shoe that week, you were in trouble. "Hi, I'll be away until March first attending the American Farrier's Association Convention in Rochester, New York.
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| Sports Medicine Meeting |
June/1998 |
The 17th annual meeting of the Association for Equine Sports Medicine was held in Leesburg, Va., from March 5-8. The meeting was attended by 400 veterinarians, sports physiology researchers, as well as others interested in equine health. The meeting offered topics ranging from how stall housing can impair bone development in young horses, to diagnostic thermography.
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| Be Prepared: Hoofcare Emergencies on the Road |
April/1998 |
Any problems you have with your horse while away from home are troublesome whether it be an attitude problem of your horse not wanting to load or a severe injury suffered during competition. This range of concerns also can be found in one small albeit important area of your horse--his foot.
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| Navicular Bursography |
March/1998 |
Navicular disease once was called ‘the last resort of the diagnostically destitute (practitioner)’ based on the syndrome's ambiguous symptoms and the practitioner's inability to isolate definitely the source of the horse's pain. In the 1980s, navicular disease was believed to be the most over-diagnosed lameness in American horses.
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| Cold Feet: Winter Hoof Care |
January/1998 |
It's here. Maybe it's where you are, too. Snow, ice, wind...and worry. How do you know what to do to protect your horses when bad weather sets in? What can you do to prepare yourself, and your horses? Here are a few tips.
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| Advice for the Hoofsore |
November/1997 |
Q: What is the relationship between chronic, severe thrush and my horse's contracted heels?
A: Thrush and contracted heels often go hand-in-hand...but by the time a veterinarian or farrier is called to help the horse, it is hard to tell which came first, particularly because so much "ordinary" thrush goes untreated. Some owners think horses' feet always smell that way!
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| Nitroglycerine |
October/1997 |
Walk down the aisle of any vet clinic, and you're sure to see a foundered horse. Whether an acute case in treatment or a chronic case having some remedial shoeing therapy, every clinic has its pet cases..
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