K.C. La Pierre is no stranger to controversy in the hoof-care industry. With his latest book “Laminitis, Founder & Equine Digital Osteoarthritis,” La Pierre maintains that the traditional research on laminitis and founder have produced few treatment protocols because the model used in this research states that the coffin bone is suspended in the hoof by the laminae. La Pierre maintains that the lamellae suspension model is incorrect and therefore all current treatment methods for founder and laminitis are ineffective. He discounts the deep digital flexor tendon involvement in founder.

La Pierre introduces the reader to the internal arch apparatus (IAA). He maintains that the ungular cartilages are the main support for the coffin bone. The coffin bone is suspended in the foot via the ungular cartilages, which forms the internal arch apparatus. La Pierre states that “with the acceptance of the ungular cartilage suspension model, founder is defined as a dorsal displacement of the dorsal hoof wall with no notable change to the conformation of the caudal foot.”

La Pierre advocates eliminating the term “chronic phase” in the discussion of founder and substitutes “chronic inflammation” with an admonishment that “chronic inflammation should be viewed holistically and not with tunnel vision as chronic laminitis.”

Terminology Confusion

To compare theories on the foot and its function there must be a common language and an agreement of terminology. La Pierre describes and identifies “osteoarthritis of the ungular cartilages as the primary cause for the hoof deformities associated with chronic founder and chronic…