Prevention and treatment for problems of the equine foot
Equine practitioners are often asked for their opinion and input because owners often read or are told that having a horse barefoot is far superior to having him shod and that it’s the only acceptable method of hoof care.
Belknap remarked on the latest research showing that laminitis is an intense inflammatory injury of the foot and is no longer believed to be solely a blood flow problem.
Without well-cared-for feet, you’re pretty much going to be out a horse. Routine hoof care is absolutely essential to your horse’s comfort and soundness, but are we paying for special shoes and gadgets that our horses may not really need?
How often a horse needs trimming depends on many factors, particularly how fast his hooves grow.
In general, controlled studies do not exist regarding the efficacy of various treatments for laminitis, and some therapies have additional risks beyond their failure to improve the situation.
Experts discussed the causes, treatments, detection, and prevention of laminitis at the 2008 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention. Topics included the efficiency of drug treatment, managing acute/chronic laminitis, foot and open-sole casts, and supporting limb laminitis.
Equine authorities began the Putting Science into Farriery session at the 2008 AAEP Convention with a discussion of the farrier/veterinarian relationship. Also addressed were the history of farriery for horses as well as topics such as foot form and function, wall separations and quarter cracks in the hoof, trimming and shoeing, hoof repair composites and adhesives, and breakover techniques.
Why might one horse suffer from injury to the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) in the navicular area while another doesn’t? A recent study suggests that the angle of the DDFT as it passes over the navicular bone might have a lot to do with it.
In recent months progress has been made in building the foundation for the fight against laminitis, with the addition of Professor Christopher Pollitt, BVSc, PhD, a world-renowned laminitis researcher, as research director for the Laminitis
The term “corrective shoeing” is often overused and misunderstood. It sometimes implies that the farrier can correct conformational faults of feet and legs. In reality, often very little can be done to change the way a horse is built. Trying to fix
There are many kinds of horseshoes; try to select shoes well suited to your horse’s work. While a horse with a problem may need a farrier to create a special shoe, many horses get along fine with factory-made shoes.
The Australian Brumby Research Unit at the University of Queensland’s School of Veterinary Sciences is conducting an array of research projects involving horses in a free-roaming environment.
Australia has more than 500,000 feral horses,
MRI uses magnetic fields to create various types of cross-sectional and three-dimensional images.
The new study, “Effect of Digital Hypothermia on Inflammatory Injury in Laminitis,” is a two-year project funded by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Charities’ Barbaro Memorial Fund, established in memory of the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner
How much attention do you give your horse’s feet? Many times it’s just the old
In California, teff is being called the “perfect grass for foundered horses.” But is teff hay always safe for horses that are intolerant of high-sugar forage?
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