Navicular Cases
What is Navicular Disease?
Navicular disease or syndrome (also called caudal heel pain syndrome) is surprisingly misunderstood by horse health professionals and horse owners alike. Due to this widespread ignorance, many horses have suffered through costly "medical treatments" ultimately ending in euthanasia! The fact that an affected horse can be permanently healed through holistic hoof care is universally ignored by the very people who should care for the health of your horse.
The hoof is designed by nature to work in a very specific way. If it is distorted and deformed by contraction, excess horn growth and/or shoes, it generally reports pain in the heel. If the heels are long/high and the bars are long/high, the pain in the foot reported by the corium above the excess horn and below the navicular bone makes the horse lame.
At first it may not even be noticed that the horse is taking short strides and landing toe-first. Shoes, being metal, constrict the expansion of the hoof, prevent proper breakover, and conduct cold into the hoof thus reducing the pain felt until major damage has been done. So-called "orthopedic" shoes and drugs constrict the blood flow and nerve function even more. This fools the owner into thinking her horse is "cured of navicular" with new shoes and drugs. The conventional medical treatment eventually calls for surgically removing the nerves which report the pain. But these nerves eventually grow back and the "treatment" advised then is euthanasia.
Something as simple as hiring a trained hoofcare professional that would trim the foot and rehabilitate the horse is not as costly as dead-end conventional treatments and the horse may come sound, sometimes even after just one trim!
For more education on Navicular Syndrome, read " Shoeing a Necessary Evil?" by Hiltrud Strasser, DVM
The hoof is designed by nature to work in a very specific way. If it is distorted and deformed by contraction, excess horn growth and/or shoes, it generally reports pain in the heel. If the heels are long/high and the bars are long/high, the pain in the foot reported by the corium above the excess horn and below the navicular bone makes the horse lame.
At first it may not even be noticed that the horse is taking short strides and landing toe-first. Shoes, being metal, constrict the expansion of the hoof, prevent proper breakover, and conduct cold into the hoof thus reducing the pain felt until major damage has been done. So-called "orthopedic" shoes and drugs constrict the blood flow and nerve function even more. This fools the owner into thinking her horse is "cured of navicular" with new shoes and drugs. The conventional medical treatment eventually calls for surgically removing the nerves which report the pain. But these nerves eventually grow back and the "treatment" advised then is euthanasia.
Something as simple as hiring a trained hoofcare professional that would trim the foot and rehabilitate the horse is not as costly as dead-end conventional treatments and the horse may come sound, sometimes even after just one trim!
For more education on Navicular Syndrome, read " Shoeing a Necessary Evil?" by Hiltrud Strasser, DVM
Holistic treatment differs greatly from pallative (conventional) treatment.
Veterinarians differ widely on their opinions of navicular disease. Some have at least started to call it "caudal heel pain syndrome" which simply says they have figured out that it is a chronic syndrome of pain in the back part of the foot. But some "researchers" have gone so far as to butcher horses while still alive in the effort to surgically remove the navicular bone.
When you understand the purpose of the navicular bone and its normal function in a healthy foot, this is probably the most absurdly inhumane thing that someone sworn to be a health professional could possibly do.
The navicular bone simply acts to provide the deep flexor tendon a way to make the 90 degree bend to attach to the underside of the coffin bone. Anytime you have a tendon that must bend and slide over a joint, you see a bone develop evolutionarily to provide ease of movement. This is mechanically like a rope and pulley system. The navicular bone is the pulley and the flexor tendon is the rope. As the muscles of the shoulder contract to lift the foot, the DDFT (deep digital flexor tendon) slides over the joints of the elbow, metacarpal, fetlock joints and navicular bone, Sesamoids are bones that act in a similar way at the fetlock joint. (the navicular bone is the distal sesamoid)
The navicular bone, being shaped like a little boat (navy) is connected to the coffin bone and the short pastern by ligaments. It also has a little fluid filled pillow, the navicular bursa, which protects it. This bursa can become damaged. What causes this damage? High heels and high bars! Since the bar horn is very sharp and hard and it is directly below the navicular area, when it grows to excess (which happens when it is not trimmed or anytime the horse isn't moving 15 miles a day over abrasive terrain) it pinches the corium between the DDFT. There is approximately only 5 mms or 3/16" between the DDFT/navicular bone/bursa and the bar/sole horn. Since horn is very plastic, when the bars are overgrown and not trimmed, they push upwards pinching the corium. This causes pain as the corium is very blood and nerve rich. The ingrown bars can be sharp and cause extreme pain. So the horse evades the pain by putting his front feet back behind the vertical. See photo below.
Veterinarians differ widely on their opinions of navicular disease. Some have at least started to call it "caudal heel pain syndrome" which simply says they have figured out that it is a chronic syndrome of pain in the back part of the foot. But some "researchers" have gone so far as to butcher horses while still alive in the effort to surgically remove the navicular bone.
When you understand the purpose of the navicular bone and its normal function in a healthy foot, this is probably the most absurdly inhumane thing that someone sworn to be a health professional could possibly do.
The navicular bone simply acts to provide the deep flexor tendon a way to make the 90 degree bend to attach to the underside of the coffin bone. Anytime you have a tendon that must bend and slide over a joint, you see a bone develop evolutionarily to provide ease of movement. This is mechanically like a rope and pulley system. The navicular bone is the pulley and the flexor tendon is the rope. As the muscles of the shoulder contract to lift the foot, the DDFT (deep digital flexor tendon) slides over the joints of the elbow, metacarpal, fetlock joints and navicular bone, Sesamoids are bones that act in a similar way at the fetlock joint. (the navicular bone is the distal sesamoid)
The navicular bone, being shaped like a little boat (navy) is connected to the coffin bone and the short pastern by ligaments. It also has a little fluid filled pillow, the navicular bursa, which protects it. This bursa can become damaged. What causes this damage? High heels and high bars! Since the bar horn is very sharp and hard and it is directly below the navicular area, when it grows to excess (which happens when it is not trimmed or anytime the horse isn't moving 15 miles a day over abrasive terrain) it pinches the corium between the DDFT. There is approximately only 5 mms or 3/16" between the DDFT/navicular bone/bursa and the bar/sole horn. Since horn is very plastic, when the bars are overgrown and not trimmed, they push upwards pinching the corium. This causes pain as the corium is very blood and nerve rich. The ingrown bars can be sharp and cause extreme pain. So the horse evades the pain by putting his front feet back behind the vertical. See photo below.
Contraction: The most damaging cause of lameness!
This photo shows a severely contracted foot. The blue lines indicate where the walls of the hoof should be. This is a 4 yr old QH which was raised in a stall and shod from an early age (some are shod as early as 1 and half yrs old!!!) The horse has been out of shoes for 2 weeks in this photo and I had not yet trimmed him (Before). His heels are long/high and under-run, bars are high/long and pushed up into the hoof capsule. The bars were also weight-bearing making them extremely painful. The horn quality of the wall horn is extremely poor and thin. The owner was advised by her farrier that there was "nothing to nail to". Thank goodness she called me! But it will take weeks for the horse to feel somewhat better. And the horse will always have some issues as a result of never developing a healthy shaped and functioning foot to begin with. It's like the Chinese foot-binding practice and shoeing a young horse that is kept in a stall deforms the bones in the feet.
A horse experiencing heel pain from high bars, heels and contraction issues
This horse was diagnosed with navicular syndrome. This photo was taken before I trimmed it for the first time and after the shoes had been removed for 2 weeks.
Veterinarians diagnose navicular disease, aside from visible lameness, by the degeneration of the navicular bone showing holes or erosion which can be seen on X-ray. The mistaken belief is that the bone loss is the cause for the pain. Bone spongiosa does not contain nerves! This "mysterious" bone loss is not hereditary or some kind of disease! It is simply the eroding that happens from blood pressure which is backed up into the back part of the foot, including the navicular fossa due to high heels The high heels force the occlusion of the deep digital arteries via pressure on the dorsal laminar corium.
Bone dissolves under pressure! When there is pain from the corium, which is getting pinched from the sharp ingrown high bars, the horse puts his weight on his toe. This allows the heel and bar horn to grow even faster. The dorsal corium is pinched up against the dorsal wall due to the coffin bone being pushed forward and tipped up by high heels. This blood pressure increases in the coffin bone and the navicular bone dissolving the openings. Also the distal edge of the navicular bone is attached to the coffin bone by the impar ligament. This ligament gets overstressed with high heels as it puts the navicular bone in an unnatural position.
So simply put, if the bars are trimmed to remove the pain and the heels are lowered so that the coffin bone is ground parallel, so-called navicular disease can be "cured" in one trim! HOWEVER, if the damaging high bars and heels have existed for many years AND the hoof is deformed and contracted due to shoes, improper trimming and/or not enough movement on abrasive ground, OR if the horse has been treated for lameness by drugs and "orthopedic" shoeing, the damage may be very extensive and include other organ damage. So there is much to consider when trying to holistically fix a very damaged hoof by trimming and rehabilitating. But deciding to start rehabilitating a horse that is in it's teens is one that ultimately needs to be made by it's owner.
Veterinary medicine cannot cure navicular disease. The end treatment they have to offer is cutting the nerves that report the pain. This is essentially 'killing the messenger'. It is not fixing the problem. Various types of orthopedic shoes are never going to cure the problem either. They are only going to exacerbate the situation while restricting blood flow and thus nerve function even more. The only thing that really works is returning the blood flow to damaged areas and supporting the horse's body while it cleans up the damage. This method does not generate money into the pockets of conventional veterinarians or farriers unless they are knowlegeable hoof care professionals and understand the holisitic methods of rehabilitating. If you have located one of those vets or farriers, you are lucky indeed!
Veterinarians diagnose navicular disease, aside from visible lameness, by the degeneration of the navicular bone showing holes or erosion which can be seen on X-ray. The mistaken belief is that the bone loss is the cause for the pain. Bone spongiosa does not contain nerves! This "mysterious" bone loss is not hereditary or some kind of disease! It is simply the eroding that happens from blood pressure which is backed up into the back part of the foot, including the navicular fossa due to high heels The high heels force the occlusion of the deep digital arteries via pressure on the dorsal laminar corium.
Bone dissolves under pressure! When there is pain from the corium, which is getting pinched from the sharp ingrown high bars, the horse puts his weight on his toe. This allows the heel and bar horn to grow even faster. The dorsal corium is pinched up against the dorsal wall due to the coffin bone being pushed forward and tipped up by high heels. This blood pressure increases in the coffin bone and the navicular bone dissolving the openings. Also the distal edge of the navicular bone is attached to the coffin bone by the impar ligament. This ligament gets overstressed with high heels as it puts the navicular bone in an unnatural position.
So simply put, if the bars are trimmed to remove the pain and the heels are lowered so that the coffin bone is ground parallel, so-called navicular disease can be "cured" in one trim! HOWEVER, if the damaging high bars and heels have existed for many years AND the hoof is deformed and contracted due to shoes, improper trimming and/or not enough movement on abrasive ground, OR if the horse has been treated for lameness by drugs and "orthopedic" shoeing, the damage may be very extensive and include other organ damage. So there is much to consider when trying to holistically fix a very damaged hoof by trimming and rehabilitating. But deciding to start rehabilitating a horse that is in it's teens is one that ultimately needs to be made by it's owner.
Veterinary medicine cannot cure navicular disease. The end treatment they have to offer is cutting the nerves that report the pain. This is essentially 'killing the messenger'. It is not fixing the problem. Various types of orthopedic shoes are never going to cure the problem either. They are only going to exacerbate the situation while restricting blood flow and thus nerve function even more. The only thing that really works is returning the blood flow to damaged areas and supporting the horse's body while it cleans up the damage. This method does not generate money into the pockets of conventional veterinarians or farriers unless they are knowlegeable hoof care professionals and understand the holisitic methods of rehabilitating. If you have located one of those vets or farriers, you are lucky indeed!
Stalls and lack of movement can help to cause navicular disease
It has been said that what's best for the inside of the horse is the outside of the stable. Stabling horses in a 12 x 12 foot stall or smaller is like putting your child in a closet or phone booth. It is stressful and causes physical and mental problems that may last a lifetime. When horses are kept with their heads up to see out of a stall door, this causes problems with their feet and lungs. They can also get cast in a stall and hurt themselves, even to the point of breaking a leg.
I do not recommend putting horses in stalls, but sometimes it is a temporary necessity. If you must put your horse in a stall due to circumstances like a show or immediate need, it is best to keep it as clean as possible. The reason for this is that ammonia in filthy bedding breaks down the protein in hoof horn. I like to use the stall time to soak hooves in ACV water. I put the feed or hay at ground level if possible and make sure there is plenty of good ventilation.
Horses do not need blankets but here again you may want to keep the horse clean right before an event or keep a wet horse from getting chilled. Horses should be out 24/7 but this is not always possible. However, limit the time your horse has to spend in the stall and take into consideration the stress you are causing by offsetting it with a homeopathic like Rescue Remedy or put some magnesium in their feed to reduce acid damage.
The horse in a stall is like a fish out of water; it won't die immediately, but it will eventually because it is not in the environment it evolved to live in. When a veterinarian recommends stalling to limit movement, ask yourself if the damage done by stalling is worth the price. Even horses that have had catastrophic injuries like puncture wounds or broken legs can benefit by lmovement as blood circulation will help to heal the injury.
I do not recommend putting horses in stalls, but sometimes it is a temporary necessity. If you must put your horse in a stall due to circumstances like a show or immediate need, it is best to keep it as clean as possible. The reason for this is that ammonia in filthy bedding breaks down the protein in hoof horn. I like to use the stall time to soak hooves in ACV water. I put the feed or hay at ground level if possible and make sure there is plenty of good ventilation.
Horses do not need blankets but here again you may want to keep the horse clean right before an event or keep a wet horse from getting chilled. Horses should be out 24/7 but this is not always possible. However, limit the time your horse has to spend in the stall and take into consideration the stress you are causing by offsetting it with a homeopathic like Rescue Remedy or put some magnesium in their feed to reduce acid damage.
The horse in a stall is like a fish out of water; it won't die immediately, but it will eventually because it is not in the environment it evolved to live in. When a veterinarian recommends stalling to limit movement, ask yourself if the damage done by stalling is worth the price. Even horses that have had catastrophic injuries like puncture wounds or broken legs can benefit by lmovement as blood circulation will help to heal the injury.
Typical "Navicular" shod foot that is contracted with high heels
Because the blood flow is restricted to the laminar corium in the dorsal surface of the coffin bone, attachment there will be damaged and the horse, once the shoe is removed and the foot is trimmed properly, will experience inflamation (laminitis) and abscessing. The crack in this foot is in the center of the hoof. The front wall begins to flatten then an inward crack begins. By the way, this is a four year old horse! Navicular "disease" has been diagnosed by veterinarians even in 2 year olds!
Another "navicular" foot
Although this foot has been barefoot for some time, it was shod and then the shoes were removed and a conventional farrier trimmed it every 6 to 8 weeks. It is contracted with high heels and long bars and lateral walls. The coffin bone is tipped forward and down and squeezed tightly forward against the dorsal wall. An inward quarter crack is just beginning (under the R). This is a 5 year old!
Similar to the hoof above
The quarter crack starting can be seen in almost the exact same place as the hoof above. The long heel has begun to collapse under the foot. The coffin bone is tipped forward but it does not appear as much because the heel is so long that it has collapsed.
Never shod, regularly trimmed by a farrier
Again it's obvious to see that the heels and lateral walls are long. The difference in this foot and the one above is that the coffin bone has begun to rotate away from its dorsal wall connection. Though this is not a navicular case, I put it here to help people understand that heel pain in a contracted foot and heel pain in a wide foot can manifest as two different "diseases". (Look at this horse's case by clicking here.) The inward quarter crack that is only just forming on the foot above has completely manifested on this foot.
Typical hoof with problems associated with navicular disease
This hoof has similar issues to the ones above. The long heel, bulging profile, and dragged-down toe hairline indicate a coffin bone that has significant rotation. Poor laminar wall attachment is indicated by the toe flare as well as the quarter crack coming from the long lateral walls and high bars. This hoof was significantly more contracted than the other front foot and had medial to lateral imbalances as well. The other front foot was in a simlar state of poor attachment with medial to lateral imbalances too. The sole view shows barely any concavity. This is a 3 yr old warmblood/TB with mostly natural up-bringing (out 24-7) but had gotten this bad with irregulara farrier trimming
Medial to lateral imbalance
This photo shows an imbalance in weight distribution on the hoof capsule. You can see that the horse has put more weight on the inside (medial) wall while the lateral wall has flared out. There is ringbone on the lateral side of the pastern joint created from compensating for the imbalanced hoof capsule. These imbalances create problems in the joints all the way up to the shoulder and back. Not only do they cause problems in this limb, but because of compensation, will cause the other three feet to wear abnormally. What is the solution? You guessed it right? Its trimming the hoof to rebalance the coffin bone and grow in a better attachment and suspension with even weight-bearing from side to side and front to back. We can no longer repair the damage done to the coffin bone or the ossifications the body sent in to stabilize the joint from un-natural weight distribution but the joints will adjust to a rebalanced hoof and the health of the attachment will help re-suspend the coffin bone properly.
Damage by shoes and under-run heel
This is the BEFORE. You see how the foot grows forward then the heel collapses and the toe wall in a shod horse stretches the toe wall laminae as in the shod horse above.
Damage comes out later as abscess in toe wall and whole sole
This owner trims this horse with my help (occasionally) But the damage done by years of pressure erupted in a major abscess that encompassed the toe wall and the sole. See subsequent views of this foot below.
Abscess exits at the coronet starting to grow out.
Though abscess exits generally come out at the coronet, people often believe that that is where the damage exists. That is only the exit point. The damage is to the whole dorsal toe wall corium and the damage goes from the toe up. You can actually see this dorsal wall has bulged out and has a channel from the toe up. The horse was lame for several weeks before the abscess popped out. When pressure damages corium to the point of necrosis (tissue death) the body identifies the damaged tissue and cleans it up with an abscess. The abscess itself has enzymes that dissolve the dead tissue and produce pressure which helps it to find an exit out of the hoof capsule. This pressure is extremely painful. If you've ever experienced a boil or a hematoma under your fingernail, you'll have a mild idea what this pain is like.
We once dissected a cadaver foot that looked relatively healthy. When we removed the wall horn, an abscess made of black goo was traveling up between the lamella. it was under pressure and must have been the cause for the horse's euthanasia. Imagine if you were given a death sentence because you had a bad blood blister under your finger nail!! If people would just apply common sense to understanding the hoof and how it works, there would be a whole lot less horses put down due to lameness.
We once dissected a cadaver foot that looked relatively healthy. When we removed the wall horn, an abscess made of black goo was traveling up between the lamella. it was under pressure and must have been the cause for the horse's euthanasia. Imagine if you were given a death sentence because you had a bad blood blister under your finger nail!! If people would just apply common sense to understanding the hoof and how it works, there would be a whole lot less horses put down due to lameness.
Damage from loss of suspension and attachment in the toe cause solar abscess
What you are seeing here is the new sole that has grown underneath the abscess. The white areas are excess bar material which should have been trimmed out as they were the ultimate cause of the damage done to the dorsal laminar corium.
Before shoes were removed
This was one of my first "navicular" cases, a 6 yr old quarter horse. The navicular bone is just above the bars. What this horse had was vertically fractured bars. These fractures were causing heel pain and, along with the poor attachment this hoof had, as indicated by the dishing in the toe and the high heel, the fractured bar was moving and pinching the bar corium every time the horse took a step. In order to fix his heel pain, I also had to help him to grow a more physiologically correct hoof shape. It meant that his feet were going to have laminitis during the rehabilitation. And he did!
Same horse as above during rehab
The horse was still suffering from occasional abcsessing and the coffin bone is not well-suspended here.
Same foot a little later in rehab
Now looking back, I can see this hoof needed even more off the the heels. But I had gotten the bar to grow back out with no fracture and the horse was feeling much better. I was trimming this horse when I enrolled in the SHP course. I was told by my instructors that this was a very difficult case. I realize now what they were talking about!
Horse in silent pain
This is the above horse before the shoes were removed. His conformation is very downhill and made more so by the fact that he is bucking his knees to avoid pain in his heels. The rounded butt is tucked and his heels are high, even in the hind feet. His over-all body is puffy from retained fluid making his owner think he is fat. Also, his shoulders are eclipsing the withers. What I mean by that is that his shoulders are scrunched up so that his withers are level with his shoulders. His raised head and neck along with his expression seem to say, "Help me!? Please?" His attitude was grumpy and he was unwilling to move. His owner was going to send him to a dressage trainer but he refused to load on the trailer.
Very relieved after a few months of trimming
You can still see that this horse's conformation is still butt-high (that's breeding) but look at the straight legs, relaxed shoulders, neck and hips. He's even smiling! No longer puffy and a clear definition of withers and shoulders can be seen.
Much better but still some issues horse made quite a transformation
And here is the horse with his happy owner. The owner wrote me a thank you note that said: "Sandy, I just want to thank you again for helping me with (my horse). and my education of the foot. I do realize that it is your love and dedication to the horse that compels you. I am very grateful for this opportunity. sincerely, PG
The horse still needed a significant amount of rehab to complete but he was on his way and you can see the transformation in his over-all body shape. What can be seen also in this photo is the relief posture in the RF where he is still experiencing heel pain or it could be joint adaptation.
The horse still needed a significant amount of rehab to complete but he was on his way and you can see the transformation in his over-all body shape. What can be seen also in this photo is the relief posture in the RF where he is still experiencing heel pain or it could be joint adaptation.
New navicular case Right front
Also a quarter horse with one front foot more contracted than the other. He presented with some lameness on his RF. This photo was taken after his first trim. His RF was very much smaller than his LF. The typical "coke can" foot when I started. "Navicular disease" is usually a contraction issue. The bars get pushed up deep within the hoof near the navicular area. If caught very early, say when the horse is less than 2 years old, it can often be fixed in one or two trims. Once contraction has deformed the feet, both bones and joints, it is more difficult to change.
One of the things apparent to me looking at this foot is the "dead" looking white horn. Sometimes the horn will look black even if it is white horn. Sometimes the horn will appear like dried out rubber.
One of the things apparent to me looking at this foot is the "dead" looking white horn. Sometimes the horn will look black even if it is white horn. Sometimes the horn will appear like dried out rubber.
RF starting to decontract
Sometimes things look worse before they look better. But color is starting to come back and as the trim promotes expansion, bruising and separation can be seen in the white line. With the whole foot starting to open up, the vertical wall cracks in the lateral walls and the white line separation are a part of the side effects of opening the foot. The owner said the horse's stride has improved but he continues to favor this foot while standing. De-contracting is painful. But once the foot stabilizes in the new wider capsule, the navicular pain should be resolved. Chances are that this coffin bone is contracted too. What happens when the lateral walls pull on the contracted bone? It sends out ossifications to stabilize itself. Sometimes, as in another case I had, the palmar process fractures then heals in the new better position. This horse has joint adaptation. His pasterns were almost straight up when I started. They have relaxed somewhat, but the hardest thing to fix is not the feet, not even the bone but the joint capsules which hold the foot in an unnatural position. This horse is 9 years old. It has been said that joint adaptation takes as long to fix as it did to make. I'm hoping this isn't entirely true!
Two Fronts starting to look like they belong to the same horse!
When I started trimming this horse, the right front was SOOOOO much more contracted than the left but all four were like Coke cans. This is a recent (3-2010) photo of both fronts and now it's becoming hard to see which foot was the "club" foot.
RF lateral view
This is the same foot after several trims. I am trimming this horse every 2 weeks. I am lowering the heels, digging out the bar and removing displaced heel that is inside the bulb. I haven't done much with the toe wall as I have needed it to help force the joint capsule to stretch. Because the horse was so upright, he had very little toe at all. It is important to leave the toe, no matter how ragged it looks, in a horse that wants to knuckle over. Also important is lots and lots of walking on firm, level ground to help those joint capsules to relax and stretch. The owner is using massage and liniment too along with regular soaking of the hoof and stretching exercises and has made siginficant progress.
Progress in getting pastern at a better angle
This is before my regular every two week trim and as you can see, he is standing with much better angles. The hoof is almost 45 degrees with a 30 degree hairline.. The owner took him to a local horse show and he won 5th out of 10 with a novice rider! His former owners saw him and didn't even recognize him. The owner says his personality has gone from a blank "duh" to an interested happy guy. Horses that seem dull may be because of constant endorphins due to foot pain. As the foot comes back to health, the horse often appears more interested in his environment. It is very common to see horses that have improved hoof health to become easier to train.
March 2010
This photo was taken just after a trim while he still has his winter fur. The improvements to see here are the attachment that has grown down. In the photo above, the dorsal wall shows a stretched attachment. Though the angle of this photo and the fact that it was taken with a flash in a dark barn distorts comparison with the above photo, you can still see that the hairline has improved. Look at the above photo hairline just above the heel and see the arch? This photo shows that arch has straightened out. Because of the wet weather, there is a lot of abscessing (in all horses!) this time of year. So the heel appears more under-run in this photo but that is in part an artifact of the photographic conditions as well as the abscessing in the bulb. the joint appears more upright too due to soft ground conditions. Joint adaptation is harder to fix and keep fixed when the toe continually sinks in soft wet ground. But overall I'm happy with this foot's improvement and the owner has gone to having trim him every 4 to 5 weeks now.
Look at conformation to determine heel pain
This horse has a higher heel in the right front than in the left front. You can see she is holding her weight off the heel of the left front. She is putting the right front behind a vertical line dropped from the point of the withers to the elbow and down to the ground. To compensate for pain in the front feet, she is putting her hind legs forward to carry more weight. This also makes the horse tuck its hip and the shoulders are hunched and scrunched up. Look at the photo below after my first trim that lowered heels and bars in the fronts and hinds, and backed up toes in the hinds.
After trim, horse stands balanced
Much relieved, this horse now stands with her front and hind legs perpendicular to the ground. she is so tired of the hard work of just standing unbalanced for so long, she is resting her hind leg. Some massage and body work would help this horse a lot.
Contracted coffin bone compared to normal coffin bone
A healthy coffin bone is parabolic in shape. It is hard to find a healthy coffin bone. A normal coffin bone can even be somewhat oval. But see how the smaller coffin bone is contracted and oval? The palmar process on one side is actually beyond-the-vertical. I suspect the above quarter horse has coffin bones similar to the contracted one here on all four feet.
Want to see what a live horse looks like with coffin bones as different as these? Look at the TB mare's feet below.
Want to see what a live horse looks like with coffin bones as different as these? Look at the TB mare's feet below.
20 yr old TB mare with two different feet
This is so typical to see in horses! One foot is very upright and "clubby" while the other is flat and either under-run or foundered. The trick is to get the contracted foot to open up while getting the flat foot to tighten up it's connection. With this mare, both feet were almost dead with very little blood circulation from years of shoes and contraction. She was very shut down and depressed with poor conditioning. This photo was taken BEFORE trimming. The clubby foot has a very contracted coffin bone that probably has a lot of bone loss.
After a few trims
Still apparent is the difference in the two feet. Since this horse has only had a couple of trims, she is still in the beginning stages of transition to health. But she has already improved in her attitude and movement.