4 the Hoof

03/28/2024

A very good article on the topic of ECVM (cervical malformation at C6). It's likely much more prevalent than we know and it affects many breeds besides Thoroughbreds:

Practical considerations for ECVM affected horses In nature, horses use their neck as a natural balancing entity. Ever seen a horse turning flat like a motorcycle but still keeping balance? They can do so by placing their weight into the inside front limb while cantilevering with the head and neck t...

03/16/2024

Most of my clients know that I have moved out of the area due to divorce. 4 the Hoof is closed at this time, and I am not sure if I will re-open the business. I am leaving this page up for now, but many links are no longer valid and I will not be updating them. I apologize for any inconvenience.

I thank all my amazing clients and friends for the great years I was able to provide hoof care services to the Clatskanie and surrounding areas. You were a blessing to me and I will miss all of you and your equines! ❤️

01/26/2024

Newest information on DSLD:

Two experts describe this degenerative suspensory ligament condition in horses and what new information researchers are learning about it.

11/13/2023

A neat article about a local rider and her Mustang using some of the newer Easycare products.

Written by EasyCare Customer, Niki C. After rehabbing several horses with NPA and navicular – I have become a true believer in EasyCare’s line of composite shoes. However, they aren’t just for rehab cases. My mustang sport horse has been excelling in everything he does thanks to the hoof prote...

08/13/2023

https://paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/sans-shoes-barefoot-trotting-filly-heaven-hanover-upsets-hambletonian-oaks/

"If by going barefoot we can get out five percent more, that could be enough to win the race. That’s why we do it.”

06/12/2023

Last weekend I was able to attend the summer IAPF PNW clinic in Albany, OR. It was amazing and I learned several tips about PPID and IR horses that I will be sharing with specific clients.

Dr Riley is doing research on DSLD horses, and while this wasn't a topic of the clinic, it was enlightening to talk with a vet that is passionate about finding a possible solution for these horses.

I am including a link to publications written by Dr Riley, one of the presenters. I haven't had time to read them yet, but if his written work is even half as good as his presentation, it will be well worth the time!

Frank K. Reilly, DVM is the Senior Doctor at Equine Medical & Surgical Associates, Inc., in West Chester, PA. He has been in equine practice for 30 years and has worked on 6 world-record racehorses. He is a member of the AVMA, AAEP, NEAEP, and the newly formed AAPF professional farrier group. Dr. Re...

05/27/2023

Grass hay in Clatskanie! This is the hay I've been buying for the last couple of years. The owner cuts when the grass is ready, so you actually get a decent protein content. Bales are 2-twine, usually 50- 60 lbs, so just right in my opinion. $7/bale in the field. Don't delay, he'll be baling in a week or two!
Kent 503-308-3073 call or text

04/10/2023

A PNW clinic coming in June! Paige Poss is amazing and the other clinicians will be excellent too.

Please join Paige Poss, Frank Reilly, DVM, Christopher Wickliffe, DVM, and Mark Male for this interactive clinic focusing on laminitis.

11/16/2022

https://thehorse.com/1118057/potomac-horse-fever-in-washington/

A horse in Clark County, Washington, is positive for Potomac horse fever, according to the state vet office.

09/19/2022

https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2022/09/19/minerals-and-insulin-resistance/

Minerals have direct and indirect involvement in virtually every action in the body, and have important effects on Insulin Resistance (IR) or its consequences. IR is different in the horse than in …

06/10/2022

Interesting!

05/30/2022

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Th4ie1CwAHs

My name is Christine and I am the founder and admin from PSSM & MFM Awareness. In today's video I will be explaining the big difference between PSSM1 & PSSM2...

05/17/2022

EHM cases in Oregon:

https://www.facebook.com/142871223382/posts/10160220207053383/

According to the Oregon State Veterinarian's office, equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) has been confirmed in two Deschutes County horses. EHM is the neurologic form of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1). Both horses have been euthanized.

We know the horse-owning population in Deschutes County will have questions and concerns.

(EDITED: We will be hosting a live Q&A webinar at 7 p.m., PDT, on Wednesday, May 18. Seats are limited to 250 registrants and 100 live attendees. If you are unable to make it, we will be posting a recording. Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7824326377007044879)

The deceased horses were not under the care of Bend Equine Medical Center; however, we'd like to share the following statement from the Oregon State Veterinarian, Dr. Ryan Scholz:

"A horse from Deschutes County tested positive for Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) on May 4, 2022. Confirmation came from an out-of-state laboratory. The horse had recently attended the Oregon Horse Center at the Prairie Arena in Eugene from April 22-25. The horse has not attended any other events since that time. EHV-1 can cause upper-respiratory disease, neurological disease, abortions, and/or neonatal death. This horse showed neurological symptoms but did not show signs of nasal discharge or an elevated temperature. Unfortunately, due to delayed reporting, this case was only recently shared with the department.

A second horse from Deschutes County became symptomatic on May 13. The infected horse attended a show on May 6-7, also at the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene. Confirmation of EHV-1 came from the Oregon State University Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on May 16.

Both horses were humanely euthanized and both ranches are currently under quarantine. The required quarantine will last a minimum of 28 days.

Equine herpesvirus information

The EHV-1 virus is highly contagious and is spread via aerosolized secretions from infected coughing horses, by direct and indirect contact with nasal secretions, and fetal fluids. EHV-1 typically has an incubation period of 2-10 days. Respiratory shedding of the virus generally occurs for 7-10 days but may persist longer in infected horses.

Following basic biosecurity practices is an important factor in reducing risk of exposure to all contagious equine diseases. Basic biosecurity measures to follow to decrease potential disease spread at equine events include:
• Limit horse-to-horse contact.
• Limit horse-to-human-to-horse contact.
• Avoid use of communal water sources.
• Avoid sharing of equipment unless thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between uses.
• Monitor your horse for clinical signs of disease and report any temperature over 102°F to a veterinarian."

04/28/2022

https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2022/04/27/attention-owners-of-cushings-horses-diagnosed-by-trh-response-test/

Some horses with Cushing’s/PPID have normal levels of the hormone ACTH but test positive with a TRH stimulation test. How can you monitor their response to medication when ACTH is normal to s…

04/15/2022

Just a heads up, EasyCare is raising both shipping rates and some item prices, starting in May. I don't have time to schedule fittings in April, but if you already know the size and type of boot your horse wears, and you want to order new/extra boots at the cheaper prices, let me know ASAP.
To my clients: I will be raising rates on EasyCare products in May to reflect product increases. I know this probably won't surprise anyone, but expect this trend to continue, not only with EasyCare, but with all equine products 😢
Photo of a horse and his boy just for fun

04/03/2022

Heads up:

https://thehorse.com/1110192/ehv-confirmed-in-washington-horse/

One horse has been euthanized. Two other horses presented with fevers and have been tested.

12/21/2021

Alicia does an amazing job of summarizing why I recommend certain mineral supplements! Please read when you have time:

I know many of us horse owners and hoofcare providers have seen the conversations about iron in a horse's diet, and the potential effect on hooves. Before we get too into the nitty gritty of diet and the hoof, I want to back up and look at a horse’s needs, based on the NRC Requirements. Hooves are so often a reflection of the health of the animal, and to make sure a horse can grow the healthiest hoof possible, we need to make sure they are meeting all their nutrient and mineral requirements. Thank you to Dr. Gustafson for helping me understand this a bit better myself!

MINERALS IN FORAGE- are they sufficient?
From Dr. Gustafson’s database of hay testing, she found that out of 250+ samples of forages tested, 97.8% were deficient in zinc, 95.2% were deficient in copper, 12% were deficient in manganese, and 0% were deficient in iron. That means that just from hay, a horse could consume the daily requirement for iron, or sometimes far exceed it. On the other hand, horses rarely if ever meet their requirements for copper and zinc from their forage. That alone is a problem - one that grains and feeds rarely correct well, since so many horses can't handle or aren't fed the recommended daily amount of grains, often due to lower calorie needs or hoof issues preventing owners from feeding grains with sugar and starch above 10% combined. So horses are often walking around with frank deficiencies of minor minerals- copper and zinc to be exact.
But, many feed companies make a ration balancer to handle the caloric issue and they have a much more concentrated nutrients at a much lower feeding rate, you say! Sounds great, right? But here’s the catch: they often add iron, and sometimes a lot of it. We will talk about the issue with this in a second.

IRON AFFECTING COPPER AND ZINC ABSORPTION
On top of the fact that horses are walking around with copper and zinc deficiencies, the frank deficiency is worsened with a relative deficiency from iron - since we know that iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc. Dr. Piper Klemm has studied iron chelation extensively for her dissertation, and actually chatted with me on her podcast about why excess iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc in the body, and the horse has no natural way to chelate iron (other than bloodletting). Iron competes with copper and zinc absorption in the body, and copper and zinc are needed for healthy hooves.

BUT IS IRON REALLY ABSORBED?
Now, there are some groups that tend to say that iron isn't absorbed well or isn't bioavailable in various forms. While this would be wonderful- it just doesn't seem to work out well in practice. Aside from the fact that many hoofcare providers can show bloodwork on personal or client horses with high serum iron, TIBC, and ferritin, and have horses with diagnosed iron overload, article after article online shows how horses rarely if ever have an iron deficiency (in fact, iron deficiency anemia is almost unheard of in horses). So they are clearly getting their dietary iron from somewhere. One study linked below shows 22 equines on a property with high iron in the water, and each horse was found to have excessive iron stores and liver issues.

BUT ISN'T IRON REGULATED IN THE BODY?
Yes, hepcidin does regulate iron in the body, but unfortunately this can go awry if it is overwhelmed with excessive iron supply (Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition, 2013). Couple that with the fact that horses with metabolic issues may also have problems with hepcidin and iron regulation, we can assume that not all horses are regulating iron properly.

DOES IRON CAUSE METABOLIC ISSUES?
In short- we can't claim that. And no one is trying to claim that. Let me explain.
Dr. Kellon and Dr. Gustafson published a study last year of hyperinsulinemia and hyperferritinemia in horses. They found that every single horse in their study, all hyperinsulemic horses, had serum ferritin that exceeded the reference range. They did NOT say that iron causes metabolic issues, or laminitis, though.
There is a CORRELATION between high iron and hyperinsulemic horses. I want to be clear that correlation does not mean causation so I’m not saying that high iron CAUSES metabolic issues, but it seems that metabolic horses may sequester iron, which can lead to a host of issues.
Another study in 2012 using horses (actually hoping to compare to rhinos) found the same correlation - high ferritin levels at peak insulin concentrations after dextrose administration. They even mention captive rhino diets are higher in iron, that the captive rhinos have more fat stores, and they are moving less. I’d say that is similar in domesticated horses compared to feral/wild. The issue here is hay is often high in iron, or at least not deficient in iron as Dr. Gustafson’s database mentioned, and some places also have high iron water, and then people will sometimes feed iron supplements or grain that has iron added. There is no "shortage" of iron in the equine diet. And we know that iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc, which is needed for healthy hooves.

SO WHAT CAN DO ABOUT THIS?
So what do we do for horses to ensure that they are getting all the minerals they need for a healthy hoof? Well, we know that feeding at least the NRC amounts of minerals is important for whole horse health and therefore hoof health, and often it can be a minefield, since feeding an excess of one mineral can affect absorption of another mineral. Dr. Kellon has a running field study (over 2 decades now) cataloguing owners practicing tight mineral balancing on metabolic horses, tracked on the ECIR online database of case histories. From there, we have seen that this mineral balancing over time, for example keeping an iron:copper:zinc:manganese ratio of 4:1:3:3, helps to balance for possible dietary iron excesses or at least meet mineral deficiencies, observed through hoof changes, bloodwork, and comfort over time. Many of us have seen a direct result of healthier feet, tighter white line, increased comfort, when doing this. I’m sure many of us could talk for hours about the improvements we have seen in feet when mineral balancing- anecdotally of course! And interestingly enough, there was a study in 1999 that even suggested that supplementing copper and zinc can help with the susceptibility to white line disease (Pollitt quoted this study in 2005).

Since the safe upper tolerable limits of copper and zinc are much higher than we would ever supplement, and since some hays almost hit the safe upper limits for iron, I'd say it's fairly cheap, easy, and safe to avoid added dietary iron and try testing hay (I use EquiAnalytical), and balancing copper and zinc in the diet. You just might be surprised at the results you see in the body, coat, and feet 😊

A few things to explore:

Iron issues in metabolic horses: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32042647/

The rhino study, using an equine model: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23156707/

Iron overload in horses: https://forageplustalk.co.uk/iron-overload-in-horses-by-dr-kellon/

Iron issues in water and liver issues:
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/evj.13029

Balancing copper and zinc to iron: https://www.hoofrehab.com/Diet.html

Podcast episode where Piper Klemm and I discuss iron and copper and zinc here: https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2021/10/22/plaidcast-252-michael-tokaruk-alicia-harlov-by-taylor-harris-insurance-services/

Podcast episode with nutritionist Scott Cieslar discussing iron and mineral balancing here: https://madbarn.com/videos/mad-about-hooves-scott-cieslar-on-nutrition-for-hoof-health-the-humble-hoof/

Podcast episode with Sally Hugg here, for more basic information: https://thehumblehoof.com/2023/08/08/nutrition-and-the-hoof/

I also have a webinar which spends 40 min on nutrition and the hoof here: https://youtu.be/RUKjGgoKnyw

This webinar includes case studies/pictures.

12/01/2021

Interesting new research on laminitis!

https://www.paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/breakthrough-laminitis-research-opens-potential-new-avenues-for-treatment/

Horse owners usually dread hearing the diagnosis of “Laminitis.” The disease plagues horses of many backgrounds, ages and disciplines. Using genetics, UF/IFAS and University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine scientists have made a breakthrough in the disease thanks to funding from Th...

12/01/2021

This is good news!
OR joins EECVI!

https://www.facebook.com/562130754192102/posts/1134054936999678/

11/18/2021

MRIs are quite expensive compared to x-rays, but they show us so much more

https://thehorse.com/1106241/what-mri-has-taught-us-about-interpreting-equine-foot-x-rays/

MRI has helped veterinarians recognize new pathologies within horses’ hooves as well as learn more about existing lesions.

11/15/2021

This is not free-source, but basically there ARE differences between horses and ponies, which explains why ponies tend to be metabolic and founder more easily.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080621004408?via%3Dihub

Mechanisms resulting in breed predispositions to insulin dysregulation (ID) are poorly characterized. Cortisol antagonizes insulin, and free, biologic…

11/11/2021

This is a good page to follow for regional disease outbreaks, especially if you travel to large, overnight horse events.

https://www.facebook.com/EquineDiseaseCC/

The Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) works to protect horses and the horse industry from th

11/09/2021

One year old open-source article on DSLD research. Probably only interesting to those who have affected horses 😜

https://josr-online.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13018-020-01994-y

Background Equine degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis (DSLD) is a systemic connective tissue disorder first identified in Peruvian Paso horses but afflicting other horse breeds as well. Inappropriate accumulation of proteoglycans in connective tissues, most prominently in tendons and ligaments...

10/10/2021

Dan from EasyCare Inc. The Ultimate in Hoof Protection was hosted by Olympia Farrier Supply to show us the new super glue method! These shoes have a nail on option as well.
A great day in good company and some very nice demo horses too!
This is a service I intend to offer clients once I've had a chance to practice on my own guinea pig/horses.

09/22/2021

Interesting article on the use of common pain meds. Just one relatively small study, but definitely worth reading:

https://thehorse.com/1104482/researchers-monitor-all-nsaid-treated-horses-for-colitis/

Researchers found that about 40% of NSAID-treated horses in their study developed thickened intestinal walls, starting as early as the third day of treatment.

09/17/2021

An equine dentist may be coming to the area next month. This is a person that has been here before and has excellent reviews. Please PM me if you would like further information.
Photo of my new Morgan c**t for attention

09/05/2021

Sharing for a client: well-broke Kiger gelding seeks new adventures!!

Achievements: Kiger Mustang extreme cowboy race with only 6 months of training & got 4th place. He is very well trained to leg cues, does anything you ask him to do, cow sorting, gaming, trail riding, crosses rivers, walks across teeter tottors, suspension bridges, he is super desensitized for obstacle courses. I also have used him for many lessons: he LOVES children, he loads himself in trailers, stands well for hoof trimmer, and bathes. He is just an amazing Kiger mustang! Asking price in comments.
Contact Bonnie Sage for more info at 971-290-8052.

07/31/2021

Really interesting story and photos! I would encourage everyone to look at the photos. You'll see that while his hooves do look great in many ways, they also aren't "ideal." The takeaway here is that you can have an incredibly sound, happy horse and their hooves need to be healthy and functional, not pretty.
(This pony's story is amazing for anyone that wants to read more about his Tevis journey)

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=495412024972820&id=100035120799165&sfnsn=mo

07/16/2021

https://thehorse.com/170199/pasture-grass-sugar-levels-when-are-they-lowest/

Grass sugar content fluctuates with the time of day, season, and weather. Timing pasture access for horses with EMS, IR, or a history of laminitis can help prevent serious problems.