RE: Hoof Angles

[Karen Standefer <hrschk@yahoo.com>]

>>A horse can have severe balancing issues without
being shod, too.<<

I definitely agree with that.  My post/discussion was
not regarding barefoot or shod, just imbalances and
hoof angles.  Barefoot alone won't fix any imbalances
if they've been there long enough to cause bone
remodelling. 

>>The club foot is not a problem in function - Beau
has been competing well.  Doesn't mean I like it, it's
a pain in a butt to manage.  <<

Ah, but ultimately, the club foot is a problem because
it does not allow the tendons to work to support the
horse and  causes the horse to use his muscles on that
side of the body.  Therefore, it puts undue stress on
the horse (even if not HUGE stress, it is still not
working optimally).  Also, the angle of the boney
colunn is thrown off by the heels being higher on that
hoof which causes wear and tear on the joints over
time.  So, a club footed horse has a greater chance of
developing navicular symdrome as well as
arthritis/ringbone in other joints.  Especially when
the horse is worked like ours do, the chances of this
occuring are increased.

>>Club foot is not necessarily caused by bad farrier
work.  In fact it's something that may start
developing way before a horse gets his first set of
shoes as in Beau's case.<<

You're correct about that.  Club hooves can be caused
from birth, or at a very young age from poor hoof
management or not enough movement(ie., stalling the
foal in the first few weeks of life).  It can be
caused by an injury that causes the horse to move toe
first which will encourage the heel go grow more than
the toe, etc.  I certainly would not point to farriery
as the cause of a club hoof.    As a matter of fact, I
wouldn't point to farriery as the cause of any of the
ailments I'm speaking of.  It's bad trimming.  The
shoe didn't necessarily do it (other than the sidebone
issue).  And, in most cases it's just mis-education. 
It's the fact that people don't realize this stuff can
be changed.  But, it's being done over and over.  Cow
hocks go away, toeing in and toeing out disappear,
crookedly screwed on hooves can straighten out.  There
is really nothing that can't be fixed eventually.  

Our horses should not have all these maladies. 
They're not made like us.  There is no reason for them
to have so much arthritis.  It's heartbreaking to see
the young horse that I care for, as well as many
others owned by friends of mine, that are retired
early due to arthritis caused by the unhealthy
remodelling of bones due to hoof imbalances.  Most of
these horses can be fixed and put back to their
intended use.  

>>You will have several holistic practitioners I know
argue this point.  Older horses may not be able to
adapt to changes in hoof trimming well if it is
drastic enough to affect conformation.<<

In *any* horse whose bones have adapted and remodeled,
forming various different sorts of calcium deposits
and other compensations, to the wrong conformation, it
takes much longer to affect change.  That's one reason
why people say it can't be done.  They try to do it
through corrective shoeing, but the changes need to be
inforced on a weekly basis and that is almost
impossible to do while shoeing.  The way things happen
is this:

The inner hoof is the first to be remodeled.  With
weekly trimming, the coffin bone is reset to a new
angle.  You must stay on this weekly, because the hoof
will automatically return to the form in which the
bones are holding it within a few days of trimming. 
So, you monitor and stay on the new growth to make
sure it's growing the correct way.   The laminar
connection will probably weaken during this time to
allow the coffin bone to change positions.   During
this time, the horse should be only walked (no
endurance, no longing, no technical work).  This will
take one whole hoof growth, sometimes more depending
on how slowly and dilligently you are affecting the
changes.  While these changes are going on, the boney
column will also be adjusting to these changes.  Some
of the occifications and calcifications will need to
break down and possibly others form if some of the
bones have degenerated from their original form. 
Muscles will also need to readjust during this time
and the horse may need chiropractic care as well as
accupressure and other holistic care to help with the
adjustments.  The horse's body is a healing wonder. 
There is almost nothing that it can't heal from.  

The way the change process works inside the hoof is
the main reason that it's almost impossible to cure a
club hoof (or other gross imbalances) with shoes on. 
The hoof needs to be trimmed in very small amounts
each week (because the heels grow so darn fast since
they're not being used as much as the rest of the
hoof).  Therefore, you can't affect the changes needed
to the coffin bone/laminae/hoof wall connection if
you're only trimming things every 6 weeks.  It would
be unreasonable and probably unhealthy to trim the
horse and reset shoes every week.  You'd end up with a
hoof full of nail holes and nothing to nail to,
eventually.

It took us 8 months to fix Roy's club hoof by weekly
trimming. 

BTW, Dr. Bowker has just published a new paper about
*curing* navicular using almost the same methods as I
listed above.   

Karen



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