Nearly 6,300 attendees were in Denver, Colo., in early December to hear the latest in veterinary research findings and to view plenty of new equine health care products at the American Association of Equine Practitioners annual convention. The meeting also celebrated the group’s 50th anniversary.

During a roundtable session on therapeutic shoeing, Bill Moyer told attendees that more than 30 percent of the horses that are evaluated for lameness actually leave the Texas A&M University veterinary hospital without a specific lameness diagnosis. Moyer, who will also speak on the science of shoeing at the 2005 International Hoof-Care Summit in Cincinnati, Ohio, says some horses simply don’t have an obvious lameness diagnosis.

When this happens, the equine veterinarian on the university staff at College Station, Texas, says there are three basic choices:

1. Just balance the foot and see what happens.
2. Move everything back on the foot if the horse has low heels.
3. Place the horse on inflammatory medicines for several weeks and see what occurs.

Dealing With Hoof Pain

To deal with foot pain, Moyer will often inject the coffin bone joint and nail on aluminum…