NE Equine Hoofcare

19/04/2023

To learn more about this and other important details about the hoof, read Dr. Robert Bowker's proceedings from the 2017 NO Laminitis! Conference. Download is free. https://bit.ly/2zP9w1w

12/04/2023

Such an important read, the early signs of laminitis are often missed or overlooked until more serious pathology develops. Catching it early is key!

CLINICAL SIGNS OF LAMINITIS PART 1

Recognising laminitis before a horse is obviously lame can be difficult, especially as hyperinsulinaemia-associated laminitis often develops gradually, and particularly if you haven't experienced laminitis before. The sooner laminitis is recognised and action taken to remove the triggers (commonly sugar in the grass) and support the feet, the better.

Clinical signs of laminitis are due to pain/discomfort in the feet. Here are some of the early signs that might suggest laminitis that we, and the hundreds of owners of laminitic horses that TLS has helped, have noticed, sometimes with hindsight.

1. Before obvious signs of laminitis are seen, owners will often notice that their horse was unusually unwilling to go forwards or move at faster paces when being ridden or worked.
2. Also before obvious signs of laminitis are seen, sensitive owners will often pick up that their horse "just wasn't quite right" - perhaps a bit quiet, or less engaged with them, or less willing or polite than normal, e.g. not offering to step backwards when opening a gate, or not wanting to move over in the stable.
3. One of the first clinical signs noticed is often that the horse has a slightly shorter stride than normal, or looks a bit stiff, particularly on hard or stony ground. You might find yourself wondering if he could have bruised soles, or a bit of arthritis, or perhaps have been trimmed a bit too much recently.
4. Similarly, you might notice that he's walking a bit more slowly, carefully or reluctantly than usual - "walking on eggshells" is a term often used to describe this careful laminitic walk. Laminitic horses might also be described as being a bit "footy" or "pottery", suggesting that they are "feeling their feet". These initial suggestions of discomfort in the feet can progress to obvious lameness.
5. Horses with sore feet will often choose to walk on soft ground rather than hard or stony ground, and can be quite determined about this, dragging their owner to the grass verge rather than walking on the road.
6. You might notice that your horse is moving less than you would expect when he's turned out, or showing unusual behaviour - he's not at the gate waiting for his feed like he always is, or he's still where you saw him an hour ago even though his field mates are on the other side of the field. You might notice him just standing in the field, but think that he doesn't look quite like he should if he was dozing, perhaps not resting his hind legs alternately like usual, or looking more depressed than sleepy.
7. Horses with laminitis might lie down more than they normally would, or lie down in places or at times that you wouldn't expect.
8. A useful test for identifying early signs of laminitis can be to ask your horse to turn a tight circle - the turn should be fluid with no reluctance or "stickiness".
9. Horses with foot pain may be reluctant or refuse to pick up a foot, or sn**ch the foot away from you.
10. Shifting weight from foot to foot frequently or "paddling" when standing still can be a sign of laminitis.

Clinical signs of laminitis part 2 and Daily checks that may help early identification of laminitis, to follow.

The common theme running through all of these possible signs of mild/early laminitis is behaviour that is unusual for your horse, and sore feet. Several of these signs could be associated with foot problems other than laminitis, but it's safest to always assume and treat as laminitis until laminitis has been definitively ruled out (or another reason for the clinical signs definitively diagnosed), particularly in the spring if a horse has had recent access to grass. Keep in mind that horses have been diagnosed with chronic laminitis from x-rays without ever showing signs of lameness, and there's really no such thing as "a little bit of laminitis" - by the time clinical signs are seen, changes are likely to have taken place in the feet - so if you have even the tiniest concern that your horse could have laminitis, talk to your vet.

For more information see:
https://www.thelaminitissite.org/laminitis.html

If you have found this post helpful, please consider making a donation to our current appeals to provide treatment for rescued mare Brandy and endangered breed brood mare Danae. If everyone who has been helped by one of our posts gave just £1 /€1/$1, we could help so many horses in need - thank you:
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Brandy
https://www.facebook.com/donate/793191228850107/185646277557164
https://www.thelaminitissite.org/appeals.html
https://www.thelaminitissite.org/donate.html

06/04/2023

To help reduce your horse's risk of insulin/pasture associated laminitis:
- Keep your horse at or just below ideal weight. Being overweight and putting on weight are risk factors for laminitis. Use a weight tape weekly, body condition score every 2 weeks.
- Feed a diet low in sugar and starch - when a horse eats simple sugars/ESC and starch, blood insulin levels increase. Look for low DE (energy) feeds if weight loss is needed.
- Restrict or eliminate grazing, particularly while grass is young and high in protein/sugar and low in fibre. Feed hay, soaked or with low sugar/starch (and low DE if weight loss is required), or haylage with low sugar/starch (and low DE if weight loss is required), and consider feeding straw (up to 30 - 50% of the total forage amount) to lower sugar and DE levels further without reducing quantity fed excessively. Total forage intake (including any grazing) should not be less than 1.5% of bodyweight (on a dry matter basis). Feed a balancer and salt to provide essential nutrients.
- Give your horse plenty of exercise (if safe to do so) - just 30 minutes of regular low intensity exercise has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity. As well as ridden and non-ridden formal exercise, can you increase movement during turnout, e.g. with a track around the outside of a field with water and hay far apart?
- Keep feet well trimmed and balanced, and supported/protected if necessary.
- Have blood insulin levels tested, particularly for horses with a history of laminitis, that are overweight, have a cresty neck or fat pads, or are easy keeper/hardy breeds. An oral sugar test giving Karo Light corn syrup will give an idea of a horse's insulin response to sugar. For horses aged 10+ that have some clinical signs that could be due to PPID, consider testing ACTH as well.
- Talk to your vet if you have any concerns.

For more information and support, join Friends of The Laminitis Site: http://www.thelaminitissite.org/join-friends-of-tls.html
Can you help provide life-saving treatment for rescued mare Brandy and endangered breed brood mare Danae:
https://www.thelaminitissite.org/appeals.html

01/04/2023

“My horse’s feet didn’t look ANY better with a diet change [or XYZ mineral supplements] so this is all a waste of time.”

I was at a barn a few weeks ago, and someone who works there implied that hoof supplements were a giant waste of money.

While I agree that many companies might have some misleading marketing or may not fully understand what we as hoof rehabbers look for in a supplement, I still hold to the truth that diet can MAKE OR BREAK hoof rehab and for some sensitive horses, diet can mean the difference between life and death- really.

So what are some reasons why diet change might not have worked for your horse?

1. That “hoof supplement” really isn’t giving your horse what it needs.

I constantly see posts about people saying their horse’s hoof issues must just be genetic because “they’re already on a hoof supplement!”
I generally don’t recommend hoof supplements. I recommend feeding the horse AT MINIMUM the daily NRC requirement of minor minerals such as copper and zinc, and increasing if you are struggling with high iron or manganese, especially if you have a metabolic horse. Some popular supplements boast trace minerals - but might only provide, for example, 14mg of copper (yes, I’ve seen an expensive POPULAR supplement with only 14mg of copper per day,) when the NRC recommends at least 100mg per day for an 1100lb horse- and more to balance ratios as needed. While this is only one example of one minor mineral, pitifully low levels of minerals are sadly common in a lot of supplements, and without familiarizing yourself with the NRC daily recommendations, you won’t even realize these supplements are sorely lacking.

Moral of the story: you’re right - the diet change didn’t work for your horse - because it wasn’t meeting basic nutritional needs. Read labels and compare to NRC recs, and for the gold standard: PULL A HAY TEST and balance minerals to what’s actually in your hay!

2. Your horse’s diet is too high in sugar and starch.

Adding a quality supplement won’t do much if your horse is basically eating an all candy/junk food diet at meal time! Excess sugars and starches that aren’t being utilized by exercise or work can wreak havoc on the horse’s system. And this may be controversial, but most horses eating enough quality forage don’t need grain - and some sensitive or metabolic horses downright can’t have grain without having a direct effect on their hoof health and soundness/comfort. For sensitive or metabolic horses, the feed should be less than 4% starch and less than 10% ESC+ starch combined.

Moral of the story: just because a feed is marketed as “low starch” or safe for hoof issues doesn’t mean it is! Always check labels.

3. Your horse is sensitive to grass

Tagging along with #2 above comes those horses that can have a fully forage based, mineral balanced diet, but still have stretched white lines and sensitive/sore hooves … because they can’t handle the rich grass pasture they live on. Often these horses have underlying metabolic issues that simply can’t handle the sugars and starches in grass.

Moral of the story: when in doubt, if your horse is experiencing hoof pain or chronic issues, trial off pasture or with a muzzle to see if things improve.

4. Your horse isn’t getting regular hoofcare

Throwing a mineral supplement at your horse but neglecting to get their feet worked on for months on end isn’t going to help their hoof health. Mechanical wall separation from excess length is a real thing! Not to mention that excess toe length plays a huge role in the forces acting on the palmar aspect of the hoof and up the limb.

Moral of the story: a regular hoofcare schedule is important to hoof health.

5. Your horse isn’t moving enough

While diet can help grow healthier hoof wall and laminae connection, it can’t make up for lack of stimulation/movement. A horse that lives in a stall or who stands at a hay feeder 24 hours a day while barely taking a step will likely have weak feet, even with a perfect diet. You can compare it to a person who eats the cleanest, healthiest diet, but sits at a desk all day. They may be thin and “look healthy,” but they won’t have the strength and muscle that someone who exercises regularly will have! Hooves and their internal structures need movement to be strong.

Moral of the story: proper movement covers a multitude of diet or management “sins” when it comes to hooves! Get those horses moving!

6. Your horse’s environment isn’t clean

A good diet won’t make up for a horse that’s standing in its own urine or manure all day long. While mineral balancing helps immensely with stronger frogs, the caustic nature of their own waste can eat away at even the healthiest of tissue.

Moral of the story: provide your horse with a clean area to live to minimize exposure to nasty microbes.

7. Your horse has undiagnosed metabolic issues

If your horse has chronic hoof issues despite good movement, a clean environment, consistent hoofcare, and a perfect diet, bloodwork can rule out an undiagnosed/uncontrolled metabolic problem. Testing to check for PPID (which isn’t controlled by diet) and IR (where some refractory cases can have high insulin despite a good diet) can help identify another cause of poor hoof health in order to properly treat it.

Moral of the story: a metabolic panel can rule out endocrinopathic causes of hoof issues, or at least tell you where your horse is at baseline.

8. Your horse isn’t actually eating what you think it is

Sometimes even with our best intentions a horse can leave supplements behind or refuse to eat the “bland” forage based feed we try to give it, and if you’re boarding, the barn staff may clean the leftover feed out of the tubs and unknowingly throw all the good stuff in the trash. Double checking to make sure your horse is actually eating what you’re trying to feed it can be important!

Moral of the story: make sure your horse isn’t wasting your hard-earned money by avoiding those expensive feeds/supplements!

Overall, there are many reasons for hoof issues- but before writing off a diet change as “not working,” make sure that there isn’t something above that is sabotaging your efforts.

29/03/2023

It's almost time for autumn deworming of horses, which should also include removing any pesky bot-fly larvae. MAKE SURE YOUR DRENCH IS ACTIVE AGAINST BOT-FLIES.
Bot-flies are insects and so an avermectin is required. Avermectins are insecticides as well as nematocides (eg. active against nematodes/worms).
Ivermectin and abamectin wormers will do the job fine for routine autumn deworming. Moxidectin will also work, however to prevent over use of moxidectin it is best to use it only when neccessary.
Remember - CHOSE YOUR WORMER BASED ON ACTIVE INGREDIENT, NOT BRAND NAME. (Don't ask me to recommend you a wormer - all the advice I can give you is right here in this post).
More infomation on deworming drugs is avaliable on the website: link will be in comments.

29/03/2023

23/03/2023

Do you have a thoroughbred and they’ve led you to believe the stereotype of “awful TB feet”?

This webinar is NEXT WEEK and will be good to listen in! We are going to chat about developing healthier thoroughbred feet. ☺️

I hope to see you there! Tuesday March 28th at 7pm EST- and it’s free!

https://facebook.com/events/s/webinar-developing-healthy-hoo/2294316664082192/

03/02/2023

Did you know that diet affects the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and health of the GI tract is linked to laminitis!?

Laminitis describes the localised inflammation of the vascular components of the equine hoof. Though the pathogenesis it is believed to be systemic, originating in the gut (Elliot & Bailey 2006, Steelman & Chowdhary 2012). The localised inflammation can lead to disintegration of the dermal-epidermal junction, which can cause the third phalanx to detach from the hoof wall.

The horse is a hindgut fermenter, with ~60% of the gastrointestinal tract comprising of the large intestine, with fermentation occurring in the caecum and colon. The microbial population in the hindgut is responsible for fermenting fibrous feed and converting it into energy in the form of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA’s) (Dicks et al., 2014).

Other roles include antimicrobial compound production, including antimicrobial peptides (bacteriocins) which keep a healthy microbial balance and prevent the growth of pathogens. Stimulation of the immune system may also be initiated by lactic acid bacteria (Dicks et al., 2014).

Thus, disturbances in the hindgut microbial populations may impede correct function of the inflammatory pathways and may imbalance microbial populations and allow pathogen growth.

Disturbances to the entire gastrointestinal tract, not just the hind gut, and the microbial population therein is related to both acute and chronic forms of laminitis, and thus dietary management is crucial to managing laminitis risk, as it can affect the health of this system.

Join myself and Nia A. Cooke this Sunday at 5pm where she will bring more brilliant information on species specific feeding, the rest of the GI tract, and how important it is in horse and hoof health!

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/species-appropriate-feeding

13/01/2023

Winter is coming and with it comes the rain and mud and boggy fields. The reality is in the wild horses would never choose to stand in saturated ground, they would roam and find more suitable grazing areas. As we enter these wetter months what should we know about the effects of the wet and often we...

04/01/2023

How much do u value your hoof care provider?

Last year I was recommended to someone by one of my clients. On attending the job, the horse was very unruly & kicked out at me a cple of times quite aggressively.

I told the client I had no interest in doing the horse & I left.

On talking to my client, who recommended me to her friend, I explained the situation & why I would not shoe her friends horse.

It was then that she told me the horse was known to be unruly & had kicked the last farrier breaking his arm.

I sacked my client on the spot!

The hoof care providers job can b dangerous enough with relatively good horses.

If u truly value your hoof care provider it’s important to look after them as best you can.

Whilst often you may not know the behaviour of the horse &/or owner (bad payer),maybe consider this the nxt time you recommend your hoof care provider to people.

20/12/2022

If you have a nutritional issue with a horse, the hooves can do funny things. Anything from slow growth to fast growth, completely collapsing, imbalance issues, cracks, and more.

One thing’s for sure. There’s no way removing of hoof horn through trimming will fix a nutritional problem.

The Healthy Horse: Feeding and Nutrition is a short course to help you understand your individual horse's needs and choose a management system that suits your environment, benefits the whole herd, and simplifies your life. Find out more, here https://learn.hoofgeek.com/fan-enroll/

12/11/2022

Christmas/New Year Holiday Announcement 🎄🐴

As we head closer to the Christmas and New Year period, I would like to let all of my valued hoof care clients know that I will be taking a much needed break.

I will be away from the 23rd of December and returning on the 9th of January. All calls and messages received during this period will be responded to once I return in January. Obviously for any urgent issues, please contact your vet.

Thank you for your understanding!
Nicole

31/10/2022

A successful seedy toe rehab for the lovey Ace. It's so rewarding to see his hooves return to health after a long struggle with seedy toe.

Ace had been struggling with persistent toe cracks and resulting fungal/bacterial invasion for quite some time, compounded by the very wet weather we had here in SEQ at the beginning of the year.

We resected the infected areas of hoof wall until the top of the infection was found. This exposes the area to air and allows topical treatments to be applied where they need to be. The owner did a fabulous job of cleaning and treating the seedy toe regularly between trims and fixing up diet to ensure adequate intake of minerals to support hoof health.

Trims were kept to a strict 4 week cycle and his owner did some maintenance rasping in-between trims to keep the hooves in balance and walls bevelled.

06/09/2022

I'm over the moon with the progress we have made with Penny after she experienced a significant laminitis/founder event earlier this year.

She experienced rotation and sinking of her pedal bones and blood testing confirmed EMS.

I worked in close partnership with her owner to improve diet, exercise, and make changes in her environment to manage the laminitis and EMS.

We also kept to a very regular trim cycle, using initial and follow up x-rays to guide the trim and hoof boots to provide comfort.

We now have a much healthier, more comfortable pony 😁 Thank you Wandilla Farm and Equine Services for your mentorship and advice through this process!

Full case study/before and after post is coming soon!

31/08/2022

Keep a close eye on your horses as we transition into the warmer months and accelerated grass growth. Under the right conditions, all horses have the potential to suffer from laminitis.

Watch out for the early symptoms/subclinical signs and take action with diet, hoof care and management changes before it becomes a much bigger problem.