Laminitis is a severe, painful inflammation of the laminae, which are interlayered tissues that connect the soft and solid structures within the horse's hoof. Various factors can cause laminitis, with overfeeding of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) being one of the most common. Horses with equine metabolic syndrome or Cushing's disease are at an increased risk for developing laminitis.

Sugardine seems too simple to be effective. At least that's what a lot of my horse owner clients say.

While the first week of June is coming to an end, May showers are persisting in many areas of the country. Although proof is elusive, there is a link that wet and humid conditions contribute to white line disease, or seedy toe.

The practice of "stacking" using two or more similar medications simultaneously in the hope of faster healing isn't helpful, and may be harmful to the horse's health.

Check out the latest hoof coatings, dressings and wound care products from some of the industry's leading suppliers.

Spring grass can spring forth a serious problem for horses, namely laminitis and its more severe form, founder.

Veterinary medicine keeps coming up with the coolest stuff. This is great because as farriers and horse owners, we get to sometimes participate in cutting edge science.

Thrush is a mixed bacterial infection in the grooves along the side of the frog, in the central cleft of the frog and/or in the crease between the heel bulbs. It usually involves the organism Spherophorus necrophorus (aka Fusobacterium necrophorus), which requires a very low oxygen environment to grow. Although this organism is capable of invading skin, it usually needs other bacteria to do so effectively. Exactly how this works is incompletely understood, but one theory is that the other bacteria will keep the oxygen level low enough for S. necrophorus to survive.

Multiple factors are involved in the onset of developmental orthopedic disease (DOD) in young horses. Some are identifiable, while others are unknown. Genetic predisposition, conformation, unbalanced nutrition, and exercise patterns have been said to contribute to the etiology of DOD.