06 June 2014

Untrimmed horse hooves


There may be more pathology at play here rather than just a simple lack of trimming.
Some horse owners/enthusiasts out there may be able to clarify.

Addendum:  A tip of the blogging hat to reader Mirar, who found one explanation offered in a Reddit thread:
[T]his is laminitis. Its caused from over eating and the rotation of the coffin bone in the hoof. It's this bad because the horse hasn't had hoof care in a while.
Second addendum:  And, as usual, a regular reader here (Mel V.) offers this more detailed analysis:
This is the result of years of neglect. Laminitis is quite possibly comorbid, but it doesn't cause hoof overgrowth.

Laminitis is a breakdown of the tissues (lamine) that connect the hoof wall to the bone. It is as excruciatingly painful as it sounds. It's most commonly caused by a too-rich diet, but it can also be caused by other problems, like severely neglected and distorted hooves. Diagnosis usually requires taking an x-ray and looking at the position of the bone in the hoof (looking for 'rotation of the coffin bone'). Hooves grow like our fingernails, so the hoof shape can be fixed eventually, but laminitis is much more difficult to repair and can be so painful that euthanization is the only humane option.
Additional details and links are in his comment.

Third addendum:  Found by reader Nolandda:
Google image search seems to indicate that this is a photo of the case of "Dusty the Pony".   This post at Strange Biology has a somewhat happy ending as Joel Hulst in Minnesota has apparently significantly improved the condition of the poor animal.
Photo found at imgur (via The Soul is Bone) without attribution to the original source; no comparable image found with a TinEye reverse image search.

11 comments:

  1. Reddit thread here: http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/26pn2x/what_happens_when_you_dont_trim_your_horses_shoes/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mirar. I've added that to the post.

      Delete
  2. This is the result of years of neglect. Laminitis is quite possibly comorbid, but it doesn't cause hoof overgrowth.

    Laminitis is a breakdown of the tissues (lamine) that connect the hoof wall to the bone. It is as excruciatingly painful as it sounds. It's most commonly caused by a too-rich diet, but it can also be caused by other problems, like severely neglected and distorted hooves. Diagnosis usually requires taking an x-ray and looking at the position of the bone in the hoof (looking for 'rotation of the coffin bone'). Hooves grow like our fingernails, so the hoof shape can be fixed eventually, but laminitis is much more difficult to repair and can be so painful that euthanization is the only humane option. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminitis

    Here's a story of a guy getting criminal neglect charges over a horse with overgrown hooves, and a picture of the hooves after it'd gotten an initial trim: http://lincolnjournalinc.com/spurlockville-man-charged-with-animal-cruelty-p5686-1.htm

    Another case, where the horse had to be put down: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/neglected-horses-hooves-were-half-a-metre-long-says-vet/

    One where the pony took a year to grow six-inch hooves and a year to be rehabbed: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2267052/Neglected-pony-grew-hooves-like-Aladdins-slippers-causing-excruciating-pain-forced-live-rubbish-heap.html The article says this one has laminitis as well.

    Phew. There's more than you ever wanted to know about horse hooves. It just irks me when Reddit is wrong. The comment saying "this is laminitis" is in response to a deleted comment, so there may have been more context there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mel. I've moved some of that up into the body of the post.

      Delete
  3. How does this happen? Do the horses not walk, run or exercise at all? Are they simply shut up in their stalls?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stalls or a small pen, pretty much. Confined space + soft ground + being a miniature horse (as this one is, from the comments on Reddit) tend to lead hooves to overgrow rather than chip away as is more common when neglected. It's also a vicious cycle - as the hoof starts to distort and become painful, the horse walks less. Healthy hooves require either regular trimming or enough travel over rough ground to keep them worn down, which is how mustangs manage.

      Here's a picture of neglected hooves that split and broke instead of curling up: http://y9dio-2.wikispaces.com/file/view/longhooves.jpg/65671258/longhooves.jpg This is also extremely painful and disabling, though maybe not quite as hard on the joints as elf slippers.

      Delete
  4. Google image search seems to indicate that this is a photo of the case of "Dusty the Pony".
    This post at Strange Biology has a somewhat happy ending as Joel Hulst in Minnesota has apparently significantly improved the condition of the poor animal. Unfortunately : "He also mentions that the person who is in charge of Dusty has other animals that need trims, but is acting poorly so Hulst will not return there."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Why euthanize a horse when the affected limb can be amputated?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Horses aren't as small and flexible as cats and dogs, and will founder (lay down) and their large size leads to death in that case. So there's no much difference in amputation and euthanization but how humane the choice is.

      Maybe some day artificial limbs will be more available - but right now they're expensive, experimental, and unsuccessful in many cases.

      Delete
  6. Have two horses - in the winter the two horses get their feet 'done' every 8 weeks - shoes on front, back feet trimmed, then in summer when the hooves grow faster it is every 6 weeks. This costs $90 per horse, per shoeing. Once fences were put in, horse's hoof care had to be handled for them. No more roving 25 miles a day to graze, which would have helped keep their hooves worn down.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Barbaro had Laminitis and lost his life.

    ReplyDelete