24/07/2017
This 12 year old Holsteiner Hunter has been experiencing LLD issues for some time now. The owner tried everything local and reached out to me for an evaluation and farrier treatment. The horse has been getting routine chiropractic with limited success in holding due to the body imbalances. Now that the horse has been balanced, chriopractic will work more favorably. In this case, there was some chiropractic impingements in the pelvis along with some muscle imbalances. The front end had significant muscle indifferences and a functionally shorter right limb. I generally start trimming and shoeing a horse in the hind end first then move to the front. Toes where very long in all four feet and the horse shod very tight. The hind balanced, toe length removed and plates applied. The front balanced, toe length removed, plates applied and a 1/2" leather lift applied on Right Front. Limb Length Disparity (LLD) is an observable body imbalance and physical deviation that manifests itself in a structurally and/or functionally different limb length, and more than likely has been created due to congenital, hereditary, injuries, environmental, muscular and/or spinal problems. Identifying LLD includes a thorough evaluation of the conformation, muscles, skeletal structures, movement and attitude of the horse. There are two types of LLD, structural or anatomic limb length disparity and functional or apparent limb length disparity. In horses, we are mainly dealing with functional LLD. The disorder of unequal limbs or lack of similarity goes by several names such as: High-Low Syndrome, Limb Length Inequality, Bilateral Asymmetry, Club Foot (not to be confused with Club Feet). Being in balance is obviously important to many farriers and in the best interest of the horse. A whole horse approach or holistic approach is to use the entire body to determine the balance of the foot, not the hoof or lower limb or T-Square method. When determining how form effects function and therefore hoof balance; you will need to
first analysis the form for conformational issues. Each leg has a center of gravity. Its position can be determined by dropping a plumb line from the point of attachment of the limbs to the body trunk. Ideally, this will pass through the center of the insertion of the deep flexor tendon on the semilunar crest of the distal phalanx. Any deviation of the foot from the plumb line indicates a defect in limb conformation that will affect hoof balance. An understanding of conformation will help you start to recognize how it affects the hoof. How does conformation issues affect your farrier treatment? Do both front limbs have the
same conformational issue or are they different? If the same, how can you provide farrier treatment? If the front limbs are different, how is this possible and what is it telling you (try looking at top line and you will see a whole body imbalance and more than likely a LLD). Conformation can also be documented on each horse with the aid of photography and/or computer programs. Providing documentation will allow you to be able to access you farrier treatment in order to make sure the horse is progressing forward. The next step is to observe the horse walking away and towards you in order to access the body movement and how any conformational or whole body imbalances are affecting the gait of the horse. Note how the tail hangs and moves as the horse is walking directly away. Does the tail equally appear to move from side to side; or lies motionless in center of body; or off to one side; or move to one side more than the other? Note how the belly or ribs
of the horse moves as the horse is walking directly away. Does the belly or ribs equally
appear to move from side to side; or more pronounced or further out on one side more than the other? Note the straightness of the front limbs from the shoulder joint or point of rotation perpendicular to the ground as the horse walks towards you. Does each limb appear straight and perpendicular to ground as the horse moves; or does one limb appear
to move inside a perpendicular line, or outside? Note the tracking of the hind limbs in relation to the front limbs as the horse walks directly towards you. Does each hind limbappear to land directly behind, inside or outside the front limbs; or does one hind land to one side of the front limb and the opposite hind limb to the other side of the front limb? Standing behind the horse, observe the hips of the horse as the horse walks directly away. Does each side appear to equally move the same or up and down as other side; or does
one side appear not to move; or hip hikes more? Standing behind the horse, observe the point of hips of the horse as the horse walks away from the observer. Does each side appear to equally move forward or sashay the same as the other side; or does one side not move or sashay at all? Does the cadence sound uniform or in beat; or does one limb sound heavy or lighter? As you can see, there is a lot more time involved when assessing the whole horse. Farrier treatment of lameness issues due to body imbalances is not a simple, “do this-do that”, shoeing answer. Over the years, some individuals have presented hard and fast whole horse farrier treatments, which have had mixed results. It is not that simple but it is not so hard either. It takes some knowledge and observational skills in anatomy and locomotion. Increasing your skill level and knowledge in chiropractic, massage, and other related fields will help you along this learning curve. Often I think equine professionals forget that the front limbs and hind limbs are attached via a body that greatly affects both as well as one
end affecting the other end of the horse. An example of this is just because one front foot has a more upright heel does not mean that the issue is a front end issue. It is more than likely a front and hind end issue, and could have been totally created by a hind end issue. I have seen horses receive chiropractic treatment for pelvic issues, go completely sound, and watch the upright heel disappear over a couple trimmings. The hoof was deforming due to the imbalance created in the body.
On 9/9/17 I saw this horse again. The horse had been being put out into the wrong pasture without the owner knowing which resulted in the horse pulling some shoe and tearing up its hoof wall. A full LLD evaluation was redone and a hind wedge was applied on one limb and a front lift pad applied to one limb. I was able to nail on one front shoe but needed to apply a Sound Horse Technology Series I (Sigafoos Shoe) on the Left Front. Owner reports horse is moving great!
