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Preventative Health Care for Feet

When you think preventative health care, deworming, vaccination and teeth typically come to mind.  And yet, the old saying, “No Feet—No Horse” is really true.  Foot problems are the one of the most common causes of lameness in the horse.  So—why not preventative health care for the feet?  Don’t wait until your horse is lame to call the vet.  Why not include the feet as part of an annual check-up?

 What is a preventative hoof care exam?  There are five parts. 

1.       History including exercise schedule, any foot problems or lameness, and the shoeing/trimming schedule

2. General inspection including body condition score and basic conformation specifically focusing on things that might pre-dispose the horse to lameness problems such as long or broken back pasterns, club feet, etc. 

 3. Assessment of the feet including conformation, symmetry, and external problems such as cracks, thrush, or hoof wall defects.  At this time 2 measurements are taken—the hoof wall angle and the hoof width. 

 4. Lateral radiographs using a “podiatry technique” are taken of the front feet or possibly all feet if indicated.  This is used to evaluate the bone and soft tissue structure of the foot which can be deceiving if you are just looking at the external foot.  Sole thickness, heel support, coffin bone position, phalangeal alignment, lamellar thickness, length of the toe in relation to the coffin bone and palmar/plantar angles are just some of the things that can be evaluated with a simple lateral radiograph. 

 5. The owner and farrier are provided with a  written report including physical and radiographic findings, measurements, either a tracing of the foot or a digitized picture and recommendations based on these findings. 

The basic preventative foot exam costs approximately $125.  Ideally this is repeated on an annual basis.  However, if a specific problem is being addressed, re-evaluation may be necessary for several consecutive shoeing cycles. 

 NOW—I know exactly what you are saying!  “I don’t want to make my farrier mad and he will think this is a critique of his/her work.”  My reply is this.  The goal is to have the veterinarian and the farrier work together as a team to provide the best care for the horse.  By combining the experiences of both the veterinarian and the farrier, the benefit to the horse is increased.  One example is the radiograph which provide the farrier with a window to the inner-workings of the horse’s foot.  Raising the awareness of potential problems in the feet is also important factor in prevention. 

Some of the potential problems commonly found and addressed are mismatched feet, long toe/under run heel, inadequate heel support, propensity for suspensory problems, chronic non-responding thrush and overweight horses with repeat bouts of laminitis.   

The preventative foot care program can be incorporated into your general preventative health care plan.  For example.  The exam is performed every spring at the time of vaccination.  In this case,  radiographs are taken at the time of the exam, followed by consultation with your farrier.  Depending on the skill and willingness of your farrier, there are 2 choices.  A copy of the radiographs and the report can be forwarded to your farrier at no charge or a separate appointment can be made for the day of shoeing  so that everyone is together in person to go over the exam as well as the shoeing plan.  Podiatry clinics are another option.  The horse can be hauled to a facility where the exam, radiographs and shoeing are all performed on the same day.  The shoeing is performed by an experienced farrier who has an expressed interest in corrective shoeing.  There are 2 benefits of going to a podiatry clinic versus performing the exam at home.  The first is that everything is done in a single day.  The second is that it provides an example to bring home to your farrier to follow. 

(The above information is based on work done by Dr. Richard A. Mansmann, VMD, PhD)

Commonly Encountered Foot Problems

 Mismatched feet:  A small amount of difference between left and right feet is quite common and is likely normal.  Obvious differences between feet can be a sign of previous, current or developing problems in the feet. 

 Propensity for suspensory problems:  Over extension of the fetlock can lead to increased strain on the suspensory ligaments.  Horses with long pasterns or “good movers” often have more extension in their fetlocks.  Increased support for horse’s with this type of conformation may decrease the chances for suspensory ligament desmitis which is a common problem in the performance horse. 

 Thrush:  A common problem of the frog including the lateral and central sulci.  Central sulci thrush is one of the more frustrating types to treat.  The key of course is keeping the feet dry and clean but this is often easier said than done.   Unfortunately, in severe cases, without doing this,  I believe success will not be achieved.  Contracted heels can make a horse more prone to this condition.  A tip for treating,, aside from keeping them clean and dry is to take 2x2 inch cotton make-up pad and soak them in an antibacterial/antifungal solution.  Keep these in a small Tupperware in your grooming supplies so they are easy to get to.  Stuff a pad down as deep as you can get into the crevice.  You might want to use a small screwdriver or the end of the hoof pick to push it down to the bottom of the crevice.  Replace the pad once or twice daily for 10 days.  Eventually the crevice will get smaller and smaller until the thrush is gone!

 Long toe/under run heels:  This foot conformation will most likely to result in foot pain at some point in the horses’ career.  More effort on the soft tissues of the lower limb is required to overcome the long toe.  The lack of heel support often results in pain to the back part of the foot.  This conformation can be improved with proper trimming and shoeing..  The basic concepts of heel support and changing the point of break-over should be applied.  If one application doesn’t help, don’t give up.  Try a different application of the same concept. 

 The list goes on!  If you have questions about other foot problems, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Barefoot Trimming

By no means am I an expert in barefoot trimming but I have several comments.  Although the term is a bit faddish, the concept is good and will work for some horses.  Although it may take some time for the foot to become adjusted, the trail horse is an ideal candidate for barefoot trimming assuming there are no pathological conditions in the feet.  Although when you think farrier, you typically think shoes, remember the trim is as important as placement of the shoe.  If you are happy with the way your farrier placed the shoes, you will most likely be happy with the way that he trims the feet. 

Some pathological conditions may be treated with corrective trimming alone.  As with many disease conditions, the key is close observation, regular communication with both the farrier and the vet, and good follow-through on recommendations.     

Last modified: 12/30/09