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[RC] Hoo Supplements - kstandeferI'd be willing to bet that the toe cracks and lost shoes have very little to do
with the effects of EPM and more to do with the hoof being balanced correctly
front to back.
One way to quickly determine if the hooves are balanced is to get a digital
camera, set the cannon bones perpendicular to the ground (exactly), then get
down close to the ground and take a pic from the side that shows the cannon
bone, pastern and hoof (profile angle, straight on).
Print the pic out even if just in black/white. Draw a line through the middle
of the pastern. Draw another line through the middle of the hoof following the
grain of the horn tubules. If you can't see the horn tubules on the pic, then
draw a line from the coronary band to the ground following the front of the
hoof (dorsal hoof wall). The two lines should be exactly parallel. My bet is
that they pastern is more upright than the hoof wall. This will cause the hoof
to absorb concussion unevenly which causes the vertical toe cracking. It also
causes the hoof to breakover slower (as well as causing excessive stress to the
deep digital flexor, navicular bone, impar ligament and boney column joints)
which causes lost shoes. It also causes the hoof to be softer in some places
and harder in others instead of uniformly hard.
BTW, this test of the two angles should be done BEFORE the farrier rasps away
the toe flare which they do when shoeing. Which brings up one of my pet
peeves: The farrier's job is to balance the hoof. That includes the
hoof/pastern axis. What they normally do is to semi balance the foot and then
just rasp away the flares which develop each time. This has the illusion of
making the hoof/pastern axis appear balanced, but if you check the horn tubules
against the pastern angle you'll find they're still quite a lot "off" with the
pastern being more upright than the hoof tubules. This imbalance eventually
causes underrun heels and can lead to pathologies like navicular syndrome
(caudal heel pain).
Karen (off my soap box now)
P.S. Can we start getting some hoof education at Convention?
Referenced Post:
I have a 5 year old stallion that had great, tough feet before having EPM 2
years ago. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of Marquis is shelly feet.
I finally had this guy evaluated by 2 vets when I felt he was ready to start
some serious training and they deemed him 110% sound after a long rehab period.
They were really impressed with his recovery (he was a 4 on the neuro scale).
We have had continuing problems with vertical toe cracks and now, last two
shoeings, lost shoes. I would like some advice on what
supplements/preparations everyone has tried and with what degree of success.
Maybe I can revert/help along the recovery of his feet. I want to start this
boy on some rides, since endurance is what I love, and see how he does. If
not, I may just have to buckle down and take some refresher lessons to try him
in the show ring (yuck).
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REAL endurance is eating egg salad sandwiches for 3 days straight!
~ Heidi Sowards
ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/
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