11/27/2025
It’s kind of crazy that now any time I want to share a case study on a laminitis case, I have to gear up for the comment section 😂🫣 Just a quick note this horse has been sound for years, so even if his feet don’t look perfect to you now, he remains happy! He has extensive P3 bone loss and remodeling and that doesn’t slow him down!
I met this sweet mini gelding in 2019, and he could barely walk. He had been laminitic/foundered a few times over the years, and was very sore.
His owner had boots and a whole slew of pads to try to keep him comfortable, but he still wasn’t happy.
When I jumped in on this case, we all had a goal: to get him sound. The owner focused on changing his diet, the vet was able to tackle a difficult liver infection and utilize meds to get his body in a healthier spot, and my goal was to simply make sure his trim wasn’t working against him.
Every single trim I lowered his heels based on his forward stretch comfort, to ensure I wouldn’t injure his check ligament or DDFT. Minis, when actively foundering/laminitic, can grow heel at an alarming rate - to where even one week after a trim, it looks like you hadn’t trimmed them at all. I do not fault the previous person who worked on him in the least, because even a few weeks after a trim, the foot can look like they’ve been neglected for months in these cases, or seem like the person didn’t even touch the heels.
I also brought his toe back every trim, and he was comfortable after the very first trim I did that. I remember the vet calling and asking what I did, and I told him that I actually think it was the owner’s diet adjustment that made him instantly comfortable, and not something magic I did with my rasp.
Once this guy’s metabolic state and liver infection were under control, his hoof growth returned to normal. He no longer grew excess heel, and his laminae connection tightened and his lamellar wedge all but grew out.
Now that we are 6.5 years into our journey together, and he’s been sound and happy and comfortable, what do I do with my trims?
Every single trim, I gently ask for a forward stretch to check his soft tissue comfort, and I lower his heels, and I roll back his toe.
And he usually trots right off to his friends in turn out, until I see him again ☺️
Huge kudos to his owner for her commitment to her horses, and a neverending thanks to the vets who worked on his case. Out of the seemingly countless laminitic/founder cases I’ve worked on or shadowed with other professionals, this SIRS laminitis mixed with endocrinopathic laminitis case was easily one of the hardest cases I’ve seen.
Knock on wood, keep trotting around happy, little Moon Man!
