Lameness Grade Critical To Laminitis Success

In an attempt to remove some of the guesswork from predicting which horses are likely to recover from laminitis, James Orsini evaluated the records of 247 horses treated for laminitis that were euthanized and 344 horses that were treated and discharged from the New Bolton Center equine hospital between 1986 and 2003. The director of the Laminitis Institute at the University of Pennsylvania veterinary school found a higher lameness grade increased the chance of a poor outcome.

Orsini found that laminitic horses with an Obel Grade of III were 9.6 times more likely to have a poor outcome than similar horses with a Grade I rating. He also determined that Grade IV horses were 20 times more likely to have a poor outcome than Grade I rated horses.

Slick Way To Make Sure A Shoe Is Level

It’s essential to have a level shoe, says Sam Beeley. To make sure, the farrier from North Yorks, England, holds the shoe with his tongs, places it over the edge of the anvil and relies on a turning hammer to steady the shoe. “I look straight down the foot surface of the shoe onto a background of a different color than the shoe,” he says. “Sometimes when you are checking the level in other ways, like looking down the foot surface of the shoe, small discrepancies sometimes go unnoticed. This technique highlights any discrepancies.”

Remove “Reset” From Your Farrier Vocabulary

The most important thing Bob Wich learned…