Five Hearts Hoof Care

10/19/2023

For best results, one should feed a custom mix of minerals balanced to your hay; in lieu of that, using one of these ready-made balancers can be a second-best option (see page 2):https://www.ecirhorse.org/assets/documents/ECIR-Group-DDTE-Safe-Feeds.pdf Note: these are available in the US and Canada.

10/18/2023

06/27/2023

Had an amazing time this past weekend in Colorado doing a deep dive in anatomy, and gaining more hands-on experience with glue-on composite shoes. Thank you Hoof Care Practitioners and Himanka!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct9aJucNZX8/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

04/18/2023

It’s that time of year!

DAILY CHECKS THAT MAY HELP EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF LAMINITIS.

Assuming your horse is not showing any obvious signs of laminitis (in which case you will have confined him/her and called your vet 🙂), these checks can be carried out every day and might give you early warning of laminitis or (increasing) insulin dysregulation:

1. Lead your horse on both hard and soft ground, e.g. road and grass - does your horse's stride length and forwardness decrease when you change from soft to hard ground? Does he/she seem a bit "footy" or "pottery", seem to be walking more carefully than normal or feeling his/her feet, and is this worse on hard ground than soft? When you are walking on hard ground, does your horse pull you towards soft ground, i.e. want to walk on the grass verge rather than on the road? NB these differences may not be obvious if your horse wears boots and pads.

2. Turn your horse in a tight circle around you - with your horse warmed up a little, walk your horse forward a few steps, then ask for a tight turn around you, e.g. as a 180’ change of direction, or as a turn on the forehand - does your horse turn smoothly with no significant loss of forwardness from walking in a straight line, do the hind legs cross under the belly? A horse with laminitis/foot discomfort will often struggle to turn smoothly, with the hind leg steps looking awkward.

3. Check digital pulses. Try to do this at the same time and in the same place every day - many owners check pulses when picking out the feet. If you aren’t confident finding the pulse, get someone to show you, and if it helps, mark the best position to find the pulse on your horse’s leg (with a marker pen) until you can find it easily. You can find the digital pulse on all 4 legs, on the outside and the inside of the leg, at the pastern or the fetlock. If the toe is 12 o’clock, the pulse is usually between 4 and 5 o’clock. Feel lightly with your finger/s for what feels like a strand of spaghetti under the skin (this is the digital artery), then rest your finger lightly on the artery and feel for the pulse. You can measure the heart rate here, so keep in mind that you are expecting to feel a pulse 30-40 times a minute. Vary the pressure (and position on the artery) of your finger until you feel a slight pulse/movement of your finger. A more bounding pulse than normal - that moves your finger more - may suggest a problem in the foot. Note that standing on hard ground, exercise, excitement, hot weather may all increase the digital pulse - we’ve found that some horses have more bounding digital pulses when they are expecting their bucket feed! See https://www.thelaminitissite.org/d.html
Notice also when picking out feet whether your horse shows any unusual reluctance to lift and hold up feet.

4. Check fat pads and neck crest - owners often report seeing filled supraorbital hollows or an increase in the size and/or firmness of a neck crest before seeing signs of laminitis. Also look for fat pads either side of the top of the tail, and swelling of the sheath or around the udders. Make sure a horse has his/her head up and isn’t chewing/eating when checking for supraorbital filling.
Look out also for weight gain - putting on weight is recognised as a risk factor for insulin-associated laminitis. Use a weight tape regularly, ideally weekly, at the same time of day and standing square on a flat surface, body condition score every 2 weeks, and take action if your girth doesn't tighten as much as usual 🙂

These daily checks may help you to identify signs of early laminitis, but don't play Russian Roulette with your horse's health - if you think your horse could be at risk of laminitis or might have insulin dysregulation/equine metabolic syndrome, talk to your vet about testing insulin, and take action to reduce the risk.

See posts on 12 and 14 April for Clinical signs of laminitis part 1 and 2.

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

For information and support, join Friends of The Laminitis Site: http://www.thelaminitissite.org/join-friends-of-tls.html (£12 annual donation payable).

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

https://www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/charity/2332215

04/05/2023

Composite horseshoes have gained increasing popularity in recent years. Studies have shown that composites can reduce the impact on the hoof and limb, potentially leading to reduced risk of injury and improved performance in some cases.

A study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science compared the kinetics and kinematics of horses wearing composite horseshoes versus aluminum shoes. The study found that horses fitted with composite shoes had significantly reduced peak vertical forces on their hooves and limbs compared to those wearing aluminum shoes (1).

Another study published in the Journal of Equine Science evaluated the use of polyurethane composite horseshoes on horses with chronic laminitis. The study found significant improvement in hoof shape, soundness, and lameness scores in horses fitted with composite shoes (2).

Composite horseshoes come in various materials and designs, with each generation offering unique benefits. First-generation composite horseshoes, made from materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar, were rigid and inflexible, which limited their use to certain types of horses and disciplines. Second-generation composite horseshoes, such as those made by EasyCare Inc. and EponaShoe, are made from materials that mimic the natural flexibility of a horse's hoof, such as polyurethane, thermoplastics, and thermoset materials. These shoes offer a more flexible and lightweight alternative to traditional metal shoes, potentially leading to improved performance and reduced risk of injury in some scenarios.

Recent advancements in technology have led to the development of 3D-printed horseshoes, which offer even more customization and flexibility. A study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science evaluated the use of 3D-printed composite horseshoes on a horse with a severe hoof defect. The study found that the custom-fit horseshoes improved the horse's gait and comfort, indicating the potential benefits of using 3D-printed horseshoes for horses with unique hoof conditions (3).

Innovation in hoof care has led to the development of composite horseshoes, which offer a new alternative to traditional metal shoes. These shoes have been designed to reduce the impact on the hoof and limb, which can lead to improved performance and a reduced risk of injury. The materials used in composite shoes can be customized to meet the specific needs of individual horses, providing a tailored approach to hoof care. These horseshoes represent a significant advancement in equine farriery and highlight the importance of innovation in improving horse welfare.

As research in this area continues, it is likely that composite horseshoes will continue to evolve, leading to even greater improvements in hoof care.

References:
[1] Sellnow, L., et al. "In vivo comparison of a composite horseshoe and aluminum horseshoe: Kinetics and kinematics in sound horses." Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 29.5 (2009): 385-386.
[2] Ohmura, Hajime, et al. "Use of polyurethane composite horseshoes on horses with chronic laminitis." Journal of Equine Science 24.1 (2013): 1-6.
[3] Van Heel, M., et al. "Use of a 3-dimensional printed composite horseshoe in a horse with a severe hoof defect." Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 92 (2021): 103341.

©Brenna S.
VitalityEquinellc 2023

04/01/2023

This!!

“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.

03/07/2023

Isn’t it interesting that the horseshoe serves as the quintessential “logo” of the horse and everything equestrianism, despite the fact that the horseshoe is something humans add to horses and not something that is naturally a part of the horse?

It’s so common that a generous portion of horse people, even those who are lifelong equestrians, have no idea that the frog print seen in the right side barefoot photo is a necessary component of hoof function.

The frog needs to be stimulated and to make contact with the ground or be stimulated by frog pressure on a shoe (which isn’t happening in the left photo or you’d see a print from the shoe form created for frog pressure).

So, what we’ve learned to view as the “hoofprint” is actually the “shoe print” because it’s missing the presence of a vital structure within the hoof.

It’s also worth noting the fact that the actual shape of the hoof between photos differs immensely.

This isn’t just because they are different horses, it is because of the nature of a lot of common shoeing practices, and how they utilize rigid materials that end up in advertently, pinching the heels in and creating an oval shape of the hoof.

Sometimes human intervention is not for the better. Or even if it is for a time, if it fails to progress, it can be an indicator of our feelings. Our belief that our intervention is always superior, and therefore there is no need to improve on it.

We have been shoeing with metal shoes for centuries, and the general structure of such shoes, and the shape of them has largely remained unchanged. Despite the growing information we have showing that lack of frog support is a characteristic of caudal failure in hooves.

I am not anti-shoe by any means, but I do find a concerning how much miss information is so rampant in the horse world that it took me until my 20s to actually realize that healthy hoof prints should have a frog print.

That what had been marketed to me as imagery of the footfalls of horses was actually something exclusively created by human intervention — not what the natural structure and footfall of a horse actually looks like.

My entire herd is barefoot now, and I would shoe again as needed, but I will never ever again use traditional open heeled metal shoes without frog support, because there’s played a very large role in destroying my horses’ hooves and requiring a substantial rehab from the damage from caudal failure.

The horse world loves tradition and hates change.

This will continue to come back to bite us in the ass if we don’t start to get more curious and wonder if some of our longterm practices could be improved on.

Why have we created a community that views itself as so infallible that people actually take offence to the idea that our decades-old practices could have some room for improvement in the modernized era where we have so much info at our fingertips?

EDIT: Some how people have taken this as an anti-shoe sentiment… I’m not of the mind that I have to love and support shoes to the extent of not believing we can modernize to find better materials and eliminate risk factors that we see being replicated in study… you can still shoe with frog support.

Shoes can be beneficial, I just believe we need to make frog support commonplace and consider using more shock absorbing materials.

If you took this as anti-shoe, perhaps ask yourself why you think people need to be so committed to tradition that they never seek improvement in order to see the value in what shoes can help with.

Accounts to check out that post regular information to learn more about current research, studies, hoof dissections etc:

The Equine Documentalist

Progressive Hoof Care Practitioners

The Humble Hoof

Sole Purpose Hoof Care

Happy Hoof Inc.

AB Equine Therapy

Dr. Tomas G Teskey DVM Equine Lameness Prevention & Rehabilitation

Scholarly search engines you can input study titles or key words into:

http://scholar.google.com
http://jstor.com
http://sciencedirect.com

Citations (not in alphabetical order sorry adding as I find more):

A new Swedish study came out a few days ago: https://news.cision.com/se/agria-djurforsakring/r/viktigaste-forskningsfynden-fran-barfotastudien,c3721326

If you don’t want to translate it here’s an English write up about it including opinion of Grand Prix Show Jumper Peder Fredicson who has transitioned his entire string barefoot: https://scootboots.com/blogs/blog/barefoot-horse-hooves-can-move-50-more-than-shod-hooves

Ridden Pain Ethogram: https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eve.13468

Evaluation of displacement of the digital cushion in response to vertical loading in equine forelimbs
Danny D. Taylor, David M. Hood, Garry D. Potter, Harry A. Hogan, and Clifford M. Honnas
American Journal of Veterinary Research 2005 66:4, 623-629

Faramarzi B, Lantz L, Lee D, Khamas W. Histological and functional characterizations of the digital cushion in Quarter horses. Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research = R***e Canadienne de Recherche Veterinaire. 2017 Oct;81(4):285-291.

Mattia A. Gunkelman, Carolyn J. Hammer, A Preliminary Study Examining the Digital Cushion in Horses, Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, Volume 56, 2017, Pages 6-8,

Bowker RM, Van Wulfen KK, Springer SE, Linder KE. Functional anatomy of the cartilage of the distal phalanx and digital cushion in the equine foot and a hemodynamic flow hypothesis of energy dissipation. American Journal of Veterinary Research. 1998 Aug;59(8):961-968.

•Bowker, 2003, Hemodynamic Flow Hypothesis for Energy Dissipation in the Equine Foot, Hoof Care and Lameness, issue 70

Clayton, Grey, Kaiser, Bowker, 2011, Effects of Barefoot Trimming on Hoof Morphology, Australian Vet Journal
Malone, Sara R.; Davies, Helen M.S. 2019. "Changes in Hoof Shape During a Seven-Week Period When Horses Were Shod Versus Barefoot." Animals 9, no. 12: 1017.

D.K. Proske, J.L. Leatherwood, K.J. Stutts, C.J. Hammer, J.A. Coverdale, M.J. Anderson,
Effects of barefoot trimming and shoeing on the joints of the lower forelimb and hoof morphology of mature horses,
The Professional Animal Scientist,
Volume 33, Issue 4,
2017,

Article by Pete Ramey:https://www.hoofrehab.com/ArticlesPDF/Pete%20Ramey%20Q&A.pdf

Article by Dr. Tomas Teskey DVM: https://www.insighttoequus.com/lessons/the-unfettered-hoof-article-2/

Fernando N. Amitrano DVM; Santiago D. Gutierrez-Nibeyro DVM, MS; David J. Schaeffer PhD, 2016, effect of hoof boots and toe extension shoes on the kinetics of horses during walking, American Journal of Veterinary Research, vol77

Back, W., Van Schie, M., & Pol, J. (2006). Synthetic shoes attenuate hoof impact in the trotting warmblood horse. Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology, 3(3), 143-151. doi:10.1017/ECP200691

Roepstorff, L., Johnston, C. and Drevemo, S. (1999) The effect of shoeing on kinetics and kinematics during the stance phase. Equine Vet. J. 31, Suppl. 30, 279‐285.
Willemen, M.A., Savelberg, H.H.C. and Barneveld, A. (1997) The improvement of the gait quality of sound trotting warmblood horses by normal shoeing and its effect on the load on the lower forelimb. Livest. Prod. Sci. 52, 145‐153.

Parkes and Witte, 2015, The foot–surface interaction and its impact on musculoskeletal adaptation and injury risk in the horse, Equine Veterinary Journal, Vol 47

Maarten Oosterlinck, Roxanne Van der Aa, Eline Van de Water, Frederik Pille,
Preliminary Evaluation of Toe–Heel and Mediolateral Hoof Balance at the Walk in Sound Horses With Toed-In Hoof Conformation,
Journal of Equine Veterinary Science,
Volume 35, Issue 7,
2015,

A. Wilson R. Agass S. Vaux E. Sherlock P. Day T. Pfau R. Weller, 2014, Foot placement of the equine forelimb: Relationship between foot conformation, foot placement and movement asymmetry, Equine Veterinary Journal
The effect of gallop training on hoof angle in Thoroughbred racehorses

Sue J. Dyson, Carolyne A. Tranquille, Simon N. Collins, Tim D.H. Parkin, Rachel C. Murray, 2011,
External characteristics of the lateral aspect of the hoof differ between non-lame and lame horses,
The Veterinary Journal, Volume 190, Issue 3, Pages 364-371,

Parkes and Witte, 2015, The foot–surface interaction and its impact on musculoskeletal adaptation and injury risk in the horse, Equine Veterinary Journal, Vol 47
Roepstorff, L., Johnston, C. and Drevemo, S. (1999) The effect of shoeing on kinetics and kinematics during the stance phase. Equine Vet. J. 31, Suppl. 30, 279‐285.

Willem Back*, Maaike HM van Schie and Jessica N Pol, 2006, Synthetic shoes attenuate hoof impact in the trotting warmblood horse, Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology 3(3); 143–151

Moore, L.V.; Zsoldos, R.R.; Licka, T.F. Trot Accelerations of Equine Front and Hind Hooves Shod with Polyurethane Composite Shoes and Steel Shoes on Asphalt. Animals 2019, 9, 1119.

YOSHIHARA, E., TAKAHASHI, T., OTSUKA, N., ISAYAMA, T., TOMIYAMA, T., HIRAGA, A. and WADA, S. (2010), Heel movement in horses: comparison between glued and nailed horse shoes at different speeds. Equine Veterinary Journal, 42: 431-435. doi:10.1111/j.2042-3306.2010.00243.x

Interview with Dr. Tomas Teskey DVM

https://youtu.be/gQ_UPrPIt0w

Video with Dr Bowker on the digital cushion: https://youtu.be/D_8THtypz38

Video from the recent Swedish study: https://youtu.be/5FTlpFwtCiM

Other articles and resources:

https://equisearch.com/articles/barefoot_112507/

03/04/2023

Important information here!!

DID YOU KNOW?

Puncture wounds in the foot qualify as medical emergencies, due to the amount of vital structures just beneath the sole that can be physically damaged and/or contaminated with bacteria when they are penetrated by a sharp object.

If your horse steps on a nail or other sharp object and it remains embedded in the hoof, resist the temptation to pull the nail out and consult with your veterinarian first. Leaving the nail in place will allow the vet to take x-rays of the foot before removal, which helps to identify exactly what structures have been penetrated, and to plan the most appropriate strategy for dealing with the situation.

If your veterinarian advises, carefully remove the nail to prevent the horse from stepping on it and driving it deeper into the hoof cavity. As you remove it, be sure to mark the exact point and depth of entry with tape and/or a marker so the veterinarian can assess the extent of damage. Apply antiseptic to the wound, and wrap to prevent additional contamination while you wait for your appointment.

Penetrating hoof wounds can be extremely serious and shouldn’t be underestimated. The prognosis for successful recovery depends on quick action to identify the path of the nail, treatment of potential infection and mechanical damage to the foot, and proper aftercare. As always, consult your horse doctor for more information and advice!