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Check Scientific Shoeing Info From AAEP
PLENTY OF NEW IDEAS relating to lameness treatment, new tools for examining feet and legs, unique shoeing ideas, changing relationships between heel and toe angles,
surgical options for foot concerns and much more of interest to farriers were presented at December’s American Association of Equine Practitioners meeting.
More than 4,100 people were on hand for this annual gathering of equine veterinarians in Baltimore, Md.
Hoof Balance Vs. Injuries
Albert Kane, an equine veterinarian at Colorado State University, found in a recent study that decreasing the difference between toe and heel angles should be helpful in
preventing catastrophic injuries to Thoroughbred racehorses.
In the research laboratory, he analyzed front hooves from 95 Thoroughbred racehorses examined through the California Racing Board Postmortem Program. These included 70
horses that suffered forelimb catastrophic musculoskeletal injury (CMI), 43 horses with sustained fatal suspensory apparatus failure (SAF) and 10 horses with cannon bone
lateral condylar fractures (CDY). As controls, he used 25 horses that died for reasons unrelated to the musculoskeletal system.
“The CMI, SAF and CDY horses were characterized by more acute toe and heel angles compared with the controls,” says Kane. “However, these differences were only
significant for the SAF and CDY groups.”
Kane’s evidence suggests an increased toe-to-heel angle difference is a risk factor for SAF horses and may be even more important than toe or heel angle alone.
“It’s often recommended that the hoof should be trimmed to axial symmetry for the optimal mediolateral balance,” he says. “But in the study presented…
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