Page 114 - Equine Clinical Medicine, Surgery and Reproduction, 2nd Edition

Musculoskeletal system: 1.3 The foot 89

VetBooks.ir a subsequent pathological process in one or more Frequently, compromises are made that enhance the
function of one part of the distal limb but may have
structures other than the hoof capsule. Horses with
imbalance may be sound, have lameness related to
Specific guidelines for treatment of the differ-
the imbalance or lameness unrelated to the imbal- a negative impact on another.
ance. Frequently, the only way to confirm that ent conditions are limited, variably effective and not
imbalance is contributing to the lameness, either well documented. Intentional therapeutic expansion
directly or indirectly, is to correct it and observe for of contracted heels can be very difficult. In those
improvement in the lameness. horses in which contracted heels have developed sec-
ondary to pain, it is unlikely that treatment will be
Management successful unless the cause of the pain is removed.
In general, hoof imbalance is treated by therapeu- In horses in which contracted heels are accompa-
tic hoof trimming and shoeing. Improvement may nied by a long toe, shortening the toe will encour-
be immediate or take several months. It is beneficial age the entire foot, including the heels, to expand.
to take serial radiographs to monitor changes in the In horses in which the long toe is accompanied by
relationship between the hoof capsule and the pha- underrun heels, rasping the heels back to the base
langes. Conformation cannot be corrected in adult of the frog will encourage the heels to grow wider
horses. Therefore, therapeutic trimming and shoe- (Figs. 1.152–1.157), but in the author’s experience
ing can only compensate for the poor conformation. this usually occurs as new hoof from the coronary

1.152 1.153 1.154

1.155 1.156 1.157

Figs. 1.152–1.157 Hoof imbalance. (1.152) Lateral view of dorsopalmar imbalance associated with a long toe,
low heels and a broken back foot–pastern axis. (1.153) Solar view indicating the position of the shoe in relation
to the ground surface of the foot. (1.154) The left heel (arrow) has been trimmed back to the base of the frog.
Note the difference in length between the trimmed and untrimmed heels. (1.155) The old shoe is superimposed
on the new shoe to show the difference in position of breakover and coverage of the heels. (1.156) Lateral view of
the foot after shoeing; note the improvement in the hoof–pastern angle. (1.157) Solar view showing the position
of the new shoe.