© Voice, August 2006
By Sarah Gee

Foot problems are the most common lameness dilemmas encountered by horse owners. The foot is a small and highly complex piece of equipment, therefore it behooves any horse owner to be familiar with its anatomy and the most commonly encountered foot problems. The following list describes some of the most common problems.

• Foot Bruising
This is the most common foot problem. It simply represents repetitive or one-time forceful crushing of the sensitive tissues that exist between the sole and the coffin bone. Hemorrhaging occurs under the sole as a result of this trauma. The hemorrhaging puts constant pressure on nerve ends causing pain and lameness. This type of injury can come on either slowly or rather suddenly.

• Puncture Wounds and Gravel
Foot infections are common for obvious reasons and are often due to a puncture wound or gravel. While an infection due to a puncture wound can crop up anywhere on the sole, a gravel is an infection which exists at the junction of the sole and the wall (an infection of the white line). A gravel may be the result of a poorly placed nail or the result of embedded foreign material in the white line.

The severity of any foot infection is determined by its location and depth. The most serious infections involve the tissues in and around the coffin joint, navicular bone, or coffin bone. Infections in these areas can be life threatening. Most local infections require nothing more than localization, drainage, and protection of the area while it is healing. More serious infections usually involve surgical drainage, significant medication, and support.

• Hoof Cracks and Hoof Wall Loss
Cracks and/or loss of hoof wall can occur anywhere in the foot with the most common area being at the quarters and heels. The severity of the problem depends on its location with the worst being the heel region, the depth of damage whether superficial or into sensitive tissue, whether or not infection has set in, the degree of instability that is created, and the size of the defect.

Management requires careful trimming/shoeing, stabilization of the affected area, and time off to allow new growth of the hoof wall. Extreme cases may require special shoe design and hoof wall patches.

• Laminitis (Founder)
Laminitis involves a partial or complete shutdown of blood flow to the laminar tissues. The loss of blood flow means that there is also a loss of oxygen to those tissues. Cellular death follows loss of oxygen. This means that the support system that exists between the coffin bone and the hoof wall is compromised, or in some severe cases, totally lost. Ultimately, depending upon the degree and duration of the episode, the coffin rotates downward within the hoof.

Laminitis is still a bit of a medical mystery in the horse world and research is ongoing to determine the mechanism that creates this disaster. Basically, any traumatic situation (diarrheas, wound infections, foaling problems, grain overload, respiratory disease, etc.) has the potential to initiate the chain of events leading to laminitis.

Because laminitis causes significant damage before any signs of lameness occur, it is, at best, a difficult disease to treat and manage. Usually, it presents as a bilateral foreleg stiffness, unwillingness to move, or obvious lameness. The best advice is to have any suspected horse examined on an emergency basis.

Generally speaking, most foot problems will initially appear to be the same. The horse will be “off” or lame. Most will show pain with hoof testers and most are more obvious when the horse is being ridden on hard ground and ridden through turns. When any signs arise, the best advice is for the horse owner to contact their vet for a thorough examination and accurate diagnosis.

Recognizing Foot Problems

The following are general signs that your horse may be experiencing a foot problem.

• Horse consistently points one hoof.

• One hoof feels warmer than the others.

• Increased digital pulse.

• Change in hoof shape.

• Exaggerated change in motion in small turns and on hard surfaces.

• Discomfort when the farrier pulls a shoe or nails on a shoe.

References:
Dunivant, Richard, Subsolar Bruising at www.horseshoes.com/advice/pathology/dunivant3/subsolarbruising.htm

Johnson, E.L., Basic Hoof Care for Horses at
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AN033

VanDyke, Peter, The Laminitis Page at http://www.olympus.net/personal/pvd/pvd.html