One thing that is consistent across every specialized field is that overconfidence can quickly develop in practitioners and have disastrous consequences for others. This is especially true when it comes to professions that provide care for others, such as doctors, vets and even farriers.
“The information, ideas, and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the United States Department of Agriculture."
A 2-year prospective survey examined the rate of euthanasia and factors associated with euthanasia among 1,070 horses and ponies in Great Britain. This analysis was part of a larger study of laminitis that enrolled owners of healthy animals who responded via a web-based survey. Most respondents owned one to three animals for an average of about 7 years. Native pony breeds were most common and while most owners (60%) reported their animals were in ideal body condition, a third of the animals enrolled had a previous history of laminitis.
A group of scientists from Australia and the United States investigated the perfusion of the laminae when a horse stands with increased loading of one front limb such as occurs following a fracture repair that can lead to supporting limb laminitis in the opposite limb.
Recently, there are more horses with different front hooves, or when one is lower, wider with a well-developed frog (the left as a rule) and another is narrow, upright, with depressed frog, so called “grass” foot.
“The information, ideas, and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the United States Department of Agriculture.”
Triamcinolone (Vetalog) is one of the most common corticosteroids used for joint injections in performance horses. Although there is little hard evidence to support the concern, it has also been implicated as causing laminitis as an unfortunate side effect.
It appears that antimicrobial effects of copper-alloy do apply to the application of copper-alloy horseshoes in reducing the microbial damage to the horses’ white line.
Treatment of white line infections has traditionally been to remove the affected area of the white line and treat with some form of antimicrobial topical. Horse owner compliance at applying daily topicals to combat white line infections is reportedly short lived. The effectiveness of daily topicals also comes into question once a horseshoe is applied to the hoof. Traditional horseshoes made of steel and aluminum provide no antibacterial qualities. The application of copper-alloy horseshoes has been shown in studies to help with combating bacterial and fungal infections of the white line and eliminate the need for horse owners to apply daily topicals.
The heart-bar horseshoe regained a foothold in farriery in the mid-1980s after Burney Chapman and George Platt reintroduced it for shoeing foundered and laminitic horses. When applied correctly, the heart bar has proven effective for various hoof-care issues. But it’s not a silver bullet for every pathology. So, when Jay Tovey only needs to engage half the frog, he turns to the half heart bar.
In this episode, Mark Ellis, a Wisconsin farrier who learned the ropes with Renchin, recalls Red’s relationships with area veterinarians, his legacy and the second career as American Farriers Journal’s technical editor.
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Kawell develops and produces copper alloy horseshoes and inserts, giving horses the care that they need to fight issues associated with white line disease, seedy toe and thrush.
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