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Re: RC: club rotation vs. laminitis rotation



mmieske@netonecom.net said:

>...This horse that we suspect has Cushings is SORE.  On ALL her feet.  She
>has a club foot in front as well and this seems to be the worst.  Vet took x-rays.
>There is 10-15 degrees rotation in ONE foot and none in the other.  He insists
>that because this foot did not look like this 5 years ago it IS founder...
>Anyway, couldn't the rotation have been there all along with a club foot?

DESERTRYDR1@aol.com said:
>Difference between a club foot and laminitis, according to another list, is 
>that coffin bone is parallel to the toe hoof wall in a clubfoot, as it is 
>still attached to the laminae.  In a laminitis the coffin bone will be torn 
>from the laminae, and will not be parallel to the front wall of the hoof.  So 
>if there is actually rotation, it's laminitis.  A foot can look clubby, with 
>dishing and upright heel due to laminitis, but it isn't a true club foot in 
>that case.  jeri

Close, but not exactly right.  There are two kinds of "rotation":

 - 'rotation' due to club foot where the coffin bone is--to a greater
   or lesser degree--pointing downward, BUT (as Jeri said) where the
   coffin bone is still fully attached to the hoof wall.  It looks
   something like this:

           / 
          / /              
         / /----    "Normal" foot
        /------

            
           /
           / /
           / /  ____  "Club" foot
          / /---
         /-----------

    Note that you can also get an x-ray that looks like this if the horse's
    heels have been deliberately grown long.  Note also that the bottom
    of the coffin bone is never exactly parallel to the ground.

 - 'rotation' where the coffin bone, again as Jeri said, has *pulled away*
   from the front hoof wall because the laminae have torn or been damanged
   by founder.  It looks something like this:

          /
           /  /
           / o|  ____  "Foundered" foot
          /  o/---
         /-----------

    where the o's represent a gap, clearly visible on the x-ray between
    the hoof wall and the coffin bone.

So far, everything is as Jeri said.

Where I differ with Jeri is in the statement that a gap always means
founder.  Not so.  A club foot that is more severe, and/or which is
mis-trimmed with the heel too short can, over time, tear the laminae
which connect it to the hoof wall producing a kind of mechanical
founder.

This was very common in the late 1980's.  For awhile, the prescribed
treatment in the literature for club-footed horses, even mature
club-footed horses, was to slowly trim the heel shorter and shorter
The idea was that the weight of the horse would slowly "stretch" the
deep flexor tendon and return the foot to normal.  This isn't what
happened.  Instead, trimming with short heels set up a tug-of-war between
the deep flexor tendon and the laminae.  Without proper contact
between the heel of the hoof and the ground (there were times when
this was being done to my club-footed filly that I could slip
a piece of paper under the rear 3/4ths of her foot), over time the
concussion from exercise would tear the laminae, producing this
kind of mechanical founder.

So, the question is, what kind "rotation" is this?  If the coffin bone
is still attached to the hoof wall, then my (uncredentialed, amateur)
opinion is that you're looking at a club foot.  If the coffin bone is
rotated away from the hoof wall, then I maintain that it is not possible
*by this measurement alone* to determine whether what you are looking
at is a rotation due to laminae destroyed by a metabolic founder or
rotation due to a club foot that has begun to seriously break down the
laminae.

Incidentally, this information is useful if you are considering buying
a horse with a club foot for an athletic pursuit.  Always get x-rays
to determine how much the coffin bone is out of alignment.  A little
bit of rotation but where the coffin bone is still fully attached
to the hoof wall *may* mean the horse will be useable with correct trimming
where the heels are left long enough so that the foot impacts the ground
with adequate rear support.  (Maybe.  You will always be trying to work
with a defect.)  But if the x-ray shows that the coffin bone has
begun to separate from the hoof wall, then I'd cross that horse off
my list immediately.

Ultimately, I agree with the poster who advised sending the x-rays and
bloodwork to an experienced equine vet.

Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA



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