The chronically laminitic horse is often a very tough case to manage because displacement of the coffin bone within the foot leads to a lot of pain and damage, in addition to the damage that allowed the displacement in the first place. At the 2007 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 1-5 in Orlando, Fla., Stephen O’Grady, BVSc, MRCVS, of Northern Virginia Equine in Marshall, Va., discussed how to build and fit wooden shoes (clogs) to improve healing in three forms of chronic laminitis.

He listed several benefits of these shoes, which are made out of stacked plywood or subfloor wood:

• Easy to build;
• Lightweight;
• Dissipate energy (absorb shock) better than harder metals;
• Inexpensive;
• Flat, solid construction allows weight bearing to be applied over specified sections of the foot;
• Easily altered according to the horse’s needs;
• Applied nontraumatically (no impact from nailing, as they’re attached with screws).

A thorough assessment of the foot with lateral and dorsopalmar radiographs (side and front views) is essential to design the shoe according to what that foot needs, he noted