Hoof casts can immobilize the coffin and pastern joints, maintaining the hoof-pastern axis and reducing the time and cost associated with frequent bandage changes. | Photo Credit: Courtesy Dr. John Janicek

Fortunately, veterinarians have options at their disposal for managing distal (a fancy word for lower) limb injuries in horses. One of those methods is applying a foot cast. At the 2015 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Convention, held Dec. 5-9 in Las Vegas, John Janicek, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, reviewed how to use foot casts in clinical practice. Janicek is an equine practitioner at Brazos Valley Equine Hospital, in Salado, Texas.

He said foot casts can help veterinarians treat a variety of conditions, including heel bulb and pastern lacerations, hoof wall avulsions (where pieces of the hoof wall have been torn away or surgically removed), collateral ligament (which stabilize a variety of joints, including those in the lower limb) injuries, and coffin bone fractures. They incorporate the entire hoof and extend to the upper pastern. He said the advantages they offer include decreasing recovery time, immobilizing the coffin and pastern joints, maintaining the hoof-pastern axis (the alignment of the toe of the hoof wall with the pastern above it; if they are parallel, the hoof has a proper hoof-pastern axis), and reducing the time and cost associated with frequent bandage changes. Further, veterinarians can apply these casts in the standing sedated horse.

Prior to applying a hoof cast, the veterinarian should determine if any synovial structures (i.e. joints, tendon sheaths, navicular bursa) the cast will cover are infected. If so, Janicek said the practitioner should address the infection and refrain from applying the cast until it’s completely cleared