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Common Hoof Problems and their Treatments NAVICULAR This can mean simple inflammation of the navicular bursa (a fluid-filled sack for lubrication of the tendon surface), navicular ligament sprain, or tendon destruction and bone changes.  The load-bearing front feet are usually the only ones affected. Navacular disease generally begins as inflammation,  and gradually results in deterioration of the bony tissue of the navicular bone.  Minute holes appear near the surface of the bone, which begin to extend inward and outward to form large cavities.  The cartilage covering the bone is softened and destroyed, leaving a rough, eroding surface next to the deep flexor tendon.  The constant rubbing against this rough surface irritates and inflames the tendon, which eventually breaks down completely.  Along with this breakdown, the synovial membrane and all other structures in the joint are usually affected.  In extreme cases, rupture of the tendon and fracture of the bone can occur. Causes: Heredity - foot too small to support body size; short cannons, long pasterns. Poor Shoeing - low heel and long toe adds weight to the deep flexor tendon and navicular bone; raising the heel too much increases concussion on the navicular ligaments and bone; reducing the size of the foot by rasping the hoof wall concentrates concussion into a smaller area, magnifying the effect. Diet and exercise - Over-exertion while under-conditioned; standing idol for long periods of time, which smashes the ligaments through standing compression Concussion - Blood supply and nourishment to the bone through the navicular ligaments are disrupted through injury. Treatment: Damages from navicular disease are considered irreversible, but judicious management can restrain progress and reduce effects.  Conservitive approaches focus on management of the horse's environment:        ·  Conditions for strenuous exercise, feed and balanced diet, provide a soft, moist environment.        ·  Trim the hoof in relation to the horse's individual conformation (not a "trendy" angle).        ·  Protect the injured and painful area;  cold water soaks can be helpful.        ·  Prevent the heel from sinking into the ground (stressing the tendon) by providing heel support; raise the angle of low heeled horses.        ·  Retain moisture in the foot and protect with a pad. FOUNDER The Coffin bone (or interior foot bone) of the hoof is covered with a leafy, skin-like substance called the sensitive laminae.  The sensitive laminae interlock the coffin bone tightly with the horny laminae on the inside of the hoof wall. Founder is the inflammation of the sensitive laminae of the hoof.  Like a blood blister under a human fingernail, founder can be intensely painful.  First systems may be loss of appetite, high temperature, colic and sweating.  The feet will be warm to the touch.  The front feet are most commonly affected. In acute laminitis, the laminae extending from the toe, along the entire surface of the coffin bone, can die quickly.  The hoof wall then separates from the coffin bone, allowing the bone to rotate or sink.  If the bone is not stabilized, it may penetrate the bottom of the sole, resulting in infection, extreme pain and often death of the horse.  Cronic laminitis is characterized by a lingering lameness, irregular rings on the hoof wall, a wide white line at the toe, and a flat sole on the bottom of the hoof. Causes: Blood circulation to the sensitive laminae is disturbed or disrupted by a variety of conditions.  This is usually caused by some kind of stress in the horse's environment, although heredity may alsopre -dispose some horses.  Some possibilities are excessive food or cold water intake, changes in feeding routines, excessive concussion or fatigue, infections or poisons, drug abuse or allergic reactions. Treatment: Acute laminitis requires immediate medical attention.  The horse may need to be put into slings to remove the weight of the body from the feet.  A soft environment must be provided.  Shoes should be removed and the feet poulticed to reduce the inflammation.  Once the inflammation is reduced and the pain is tolerable, soaking in warm water will improve circulation and help abscesses to drain. Care for chronic founder is very difficult and often disappointing.  It may take as much as a year of daily treatment to recover.  Horses with chronic laminitis are occasionally lame, but they may be usable for light work when properly cared for; many horses never fully recover. Treatment should focus on the following:        ·  Medically stabilize the horse's system to reduce pain and infection.        ·  Drain abscesses and keep foot clean and pliable.  Soaking in a hot Epsom salt is recommended.        ·  Stabilize the coffin bone to prevent further rotation or penetration.  Apply pressure behind the point of the frog with a heart bar shoe or flexible tapered frog pad.        ·  Relieve pressure on the sole by use of a rim which distributes weight to the hoof wall.        ·  Raise the angle at the toe, to transfer weight to the rear of the hoof. ABSCESSES Absecess are infections of the sensitive structure of the hoof, most common in the sole or the white line area.  These "pus pockets" or festering sores will migrate in the foot, seeking an opening for drainage.  Even though the wound may begin in the sole of the foot, it is not unusual for it to break open as high as the coronary band (commonly known as a Quittor). Causes: Abcesses most commonly result from puncture wounds, thrush, bruises or laminitis.  They may also develop from bacteria trapped in the hoof tissue from the normal expansion and contraction of the hoof. Treatment: In order to heal, the abscess must be opened to allow drainage and drying.  Good drainage is essential, but recovery time is usually faster with a small hole.  The horse may also need  a tetanus shot or antibiotic for possible infection.  The following course of action should be followed:        ·  Contact your veterinarian for advice or assistance in digging out the abscess and administering systemic medication.        ·  Rinse out the tracts of the abscess with germicide, and pack with a poultice to encourage drainage.        ·  Apply a pad or boot to hold the medication at the site of the abscess and to prevent dirt and bacteria from entering the area.        ·  Soak daily in Epsom salts to relieve pressure and encourage drainage.  The foot should be bandaged or protected between treatments. THRUSH Thrush is a destructive bacterial infection of the frog, usually characterized by a black or gray strong-smelling discharge and a "cheesy" appearance.  The bacteria responsible is anaerobic (can live only in a no-air environment). Causes: Bacteria in dirt and manure, allowed to pack into the hoof for extended periods of time, will attack the frog tissue.  Dirty stable conditions and lack of regular hoof cleaning will contribute to the problem.  Thrush may also be encouraged by lack of exercise or sudden weather changes (dry to wet). Treatment: Cleaning the foot and exposing the affected areas to air, as well as removing the infected portions of the frog, will stop thrush.  Apply an antiseptic agent to dry and destroy any remaining bacteria.  For more advanced or serious cases:        ·  Trim away the infected portions of the frog and wash with a scrub brush.        ·  Let the infection drain, and then treat with iodine or copper sulfate solution.  Other drying agents such as Clorox or turpentine may also be used.        ·  The hoof may be padded and packed with medication.        ·  Tetanus immunizations should be current.        ·  Frequent hoof cleaning and clean stable conditions are imperative. SAND CRACKS Sand Cracks are vertical cracks in the hoof wall.  They may extend part way down the wall from the coronary band, part way up from the ground surface or the full length of the wall.  A sand crack is referred to by its location: Toe, quarter, heel or bar, and may be superficial or deep and painful.  The sides of a crack will not heal (join together). Causes: Cracks may be caused by unbalanced feet.  Dry and brittle feet crack more easily than healthy hooves.  Large nails (in proportion to hoof size), driven close to the outside wall, will split an otherwise healthy healthy hoof. Treatment: The sides of a crack must be immobilized until new hoof grows out from the coronary band.  Methods include metal shoe clips in place of screws, bar shoes, lacing and modern plastics.  Cracks that move and cause pain (cracked clear through to the quick) may be filled with acrylic plastic or epoxy material.  Sensitive tissue should be protected with sterile cotton or other suitable material. SEEDY TOE The hoof wall is composed of two layers, the outside portion made up of horn fibers, and the inside portion consisting of horny laminae.  In a normal hoof, these layers blend closely together, forming a solid, continuous whole. In the presence of the condition called seedy toes, the horn uniting the two layers decays, breaking up into a granular, cheesy-textured debris and leaving a gap.  Although called seedy toe, the condition is not limited to the toe; it sometimes extends around the hoof from quarter to quarter.  In its limited form, seedy toe creates a superficial hollow in the toe, but may extend upward to any height towards the coronet. Causes: Various causes have been attributed to seedy toe.  Some refer to an injury done to the toe or coronet, by abrasion or concussion, which results in the secretion of a defective horn.  A more common opinion is that a yeast infection fungus, similar to that found in thrush, is responsible.  The yeast appears to prefer the inner layer of the hoof wall, whereas thrush prefers the frog.  Wet  or dirty stabling conditions encourage the infection. Treatment: All of the infected material must be removed with a hoof knife or motorized tool.  A bacterial agent helps destroy remaining infection.  Raising the toe slightly will help transfer weight to the rear of the hoof if the horse is showing signs of tenderness in the effected area. CONTRACTED HEELS A foot is said to be contracted when the buttresses of the heel draw together closer than 1/4inch inside a parallel line extended back from the toe nail holes of a keg shoe.  Contracted heels may be seen as a symptom of a disease rather than a disease themselves, such as when associated with navicular.  There may or may not be lameness present. Causes: Contracted heels may be caused by lack of moisture in the hoof, or lack of pressure or weight bearing on the heel area or frog.  Lack of exercise, repeated fitting of too small a shoe or excessive hoof length can also contribute to atrophy and contraction. Treatment: Moisture can be returned to the hoof by turning the barefoot horse out into a damp pasture.  Moisture can also be restored by use of poultice boots or clay packs.  A bar shoe or boot allowing for natural heel expansion is a preferred supplement to moisture restoration. CORNS A corn on a horse is simply a bruise of the sensitive sole of the foot.  The injury causes lameness and is usually accompanied by a red, circular stain where blood has effused underneath the horn.  Advanced corns are yellow, infected and become abscesses. Causes: Corns are caused by unequal pressure and/or concussion, through conformation defects, overtrimming of heels, shoe heel caulks, short-heeled shoes or unlevel shoes.  Neglect of the foot or leaving shoes on for long periods without re-setting is also a common cause. Treatment: Removing or compensating for the cause is the best form of treatment.  Where lameness is evident, weight should be transferred from the heel to the frog area, and a pad provided to reduce concussion.  Infected corns which are draining should be protected by a boot or pad.  Pads also help hold medication at the site of the wound. WHITE LINE DISEASE A breakdown of the protein and collagen of the hoof wall, affecting the area between the horny laminae on the inside of the hoof wall and the sensitive laminae of the coffin bone.  White line disease may be apparent only at the surface where the "white line" is evident on the sole, or may become embedded deeply within the hoof wall, sending out thread-like filaments that absorb nutrients much like the roots of a plant. Causes: White line disease is caused by a combination of bacteria and fungi, living together within the hoof wall in a symbiotic relationship.  They can live alone, but benefit mutually from eachother's presence.  The microorganisms enter the foot through bruises, tears in the tissue, quicks from nails, or minute abrasions of the white line area.  Since there are innumerable types of bacteria and fungus, there are also innumerable combinations of relationships which can occur in each instance of white line disease.  Each can result in varying degrees of virulent reactions, some benign but others increasingly destructive.  Enzymes and toxins are produced by both bacteria and fungi to break down blood, collagen and protein, resulting in the ultimate destruction of connective tissue on the hoof wall. Treatment: Effective treatment requires an early, aggressive attack.  Be suspicious of any injury or unusual appearance of the white line area, however slight.  Any trace of bruising, dried blood or minute tears in the sensitive tissue are perfect nutrients for growth of microorganisms. Treating for bacteria or fungus alone is relatively useless, as there may be destructive varieties of each microorganism present present.  Each may break down the hoof in a different manner.  Both must be controlled simultaneously through the use of a broad-spectrum bactericide along with fungicide.  Warm and wet conditions contribute to the growth of both fungus and bacteria, so the hoof must be kept clean and dry.  Time and patient application of medication is required to treat the infections.  If the problem is kept under control until the hoof can grow and repair itself, full recovery can be expected. (Article Source:  EasySoaker Brochure on common hoof problems) This site is © Copyright Pegasus Systems 2005-2007, All Rights Reserved.