The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
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52 TheHorse.com THE HORSE March 2018 Critical Early Intervention The key to managing an EMS horse's feet and warding off laminitis lies within. "If you have a horse or pony that fits into the high-risk category for laminitis, it's worthwhile to get X rays of the front feet occasionally, at the guidance of your veterinarian, just to see what's going on," says van Eps. "By the time there is pathol- ogy (disease or damage) in the foot, it's often too late. What we've found over the years with laminitis is that once a horse experiences this, the changes in the feet are essentially irreversible. The feet can be managed, but there is only so much you can do. Thus, prevention and limiting progression of the disease is key." With horses prone to endocrine dis- ease, Rucker says she typically takes lat- eral (from the side) radiographs annually as part of a preventive health program. "We also measure the width of the hoof wall, which includes the hard outer horn and also the soft tissue—the lamellae and dermis," she says. "The distance from the outermost point of the wall to the coffin bone is made up of the horn and lamellar dermis. We can compare this width/depth from year to year, to make sure it hasn't changed and the horse isn't starting to develop clinical laminitis." She says she tries to help owners be- come more aware of potential problems and talks to them about the fact their horses are overweight or might be prone to endocrine disease, relying on both foot and blood monitoring to try to identify cases before a major problem develops. Subtle Signs of Trouble You and your farrier can monitor a variety of aspects of your horse's hooves, not the least of which are his white line and sole. In addition to laminitis, EMS horses are prone to white line disease (an infection of the inner hoof wall tissues) and abscesses, the former of which is particularly tricky to manage. Your farrier might notice that the white line in your horse's front feet is getting wider or that the sole's natural arch is flattening. The horse used to be comfort- able when the farrier worked, but now, when he or she picks up one foot, the horse doesn't want to stand on the other for very long. "All these things point toward the fact that this horse has a prob- lem," says Rucker. "It might be laminitis or something else, but these are the kinds of things we watch for." If white line disease has set in, your farrier will debride (remove the dead and damaged tissue) the affected area to expose it to UV light and air. You can then take steps to keep the feet clean and dry and treat the debrided pockets topically with astringents. Also pay attention to your horse's hoof growth. "If the heels are outgrowing the toe—with uneven hoof growth—this is also a clue," says Rucker. "The owner can help keep track of this, looking for a wide white line or a flattening or prolapsed sole and checking growth rings of the hoof. If those rings are wider at the heel than at the toe, these are things that sug- gest the horse is having a problem." And, of course, there are the telltale signs of an early case of laminitis: an increased pulse in the feet; the horse not wanting to walk forward or turn because his feet are sore; and shifting weight from foot to foot. Once you notice changes, Burns says the principles of hoof care for these horses are simple. "We just go back to basics to maintain as much sole depth as possible, to keep the horse comfortable," he says, adding that horses with insuf- ficient sole depth become sore and tender very readily. He says he'll also trim the horse's toe back to make sure the dorsal (outer/front- facing) hoof wall aligns with the dorsal surface of the distal phalanx (coffin bone) STEP BY STEP New scientific study proves IceHorse's Laminitis boot is better by miles. Something as serious as Laminitis needs the best treatment there is. New scientific veterinary research confirms IceHorse's dry cryotherapy is a much more effective cold therapy treatment than ice water buckets, gels or compression-based cold therapies. Why risk using anything less? e only cold therapy treatment approved by the USEF. See icehorse.net for more information. If it's Laminitis, it's time to kick the bucket Use ice boots to cool feet continuously for the first couple of days of an acute bout of laminitis. COURTESY TRAVIS BURNS/DR. R. SCOTT PLEASANT