Re: Long toe, low heel

[RQuestarabians@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/12/2000 9:40:53 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
kathy_mayeda@atce.com writes:

<< Oh my gawd - do you actually want the coffin bone to be parallel to
 the ground?  Sounds like a ligament breakdown waiting to happen.
 The angle you should be concerned with is the fetlock, pastern and
 coffin bones should be all aligned. NOT PARALLEL TO THE GROUND.
 
 >>Here is an interesting article written by Dr. Strasser in regards to this. 
She is world reknowed for her ability to heal chronically foundered etc. 
horses that most farriers would have considered "hopeless situations". Enjoy!

To quote Dr. Strasser (from Jaime Jackson's newsletter):
The same steep hoof form responsible for navicular is also responsible for 
deficiency of blood flow and chronic overload of the dorsal part of the 
laminae, which sets the stage for acute laminitis.

[....X-ray] Studies of wild horses show the [bottom of the] coffin bone of a 
natural foot parallel to the ground and the frog/bulbs actually touching the 
ground.  Domestic horses, however, are largely forced to live with high heels 
and no frog contact.  A change in the distribution of pressure results; the 
steeper the coffin bone, the more weight moves to the tip of the coffin bone 
and the more the laminae there are overloaded.  Soft ground is less harmful 
under these conditions than hard ground.

The overloading of the laminae can be borne for some time if there is optimal 
circulation and good horn quality (unshod hoof.)  If anything like a 
metabolic disorder occurs, such as an excess in protein, the overloaded area 
becomes inflamed.  Horses show pain and shift their weight rearward, onto 
parts of the hoof where the laminae are still intact.  

With wild horses, acute laminitis heals quickly, since the animal has to 
migrate with the herd, and circulation  resolves the laminitis within a few 
days.  The rearward shift also shortens overlong heels.   [.....]

The use of wedge pads or bar shoes only increases the problem, doubling 
pressure put onto the damaged region.  Cells in the already damaged area die 
off, while cells on the edges of the afflicted area remain inflamed, 
producing wound secretion instead of stabilizing horn.  Acute laminitis, 
therefore, is a long time in the making.  The "sudden" appearance of 
laminitis is brought on either by additional overload or several possible 
poisonous ingredients; however, these are not the causes for the laminitis, 
but rather the "straw that broke the camel's back."

Pollitt shows dramatically in his video that a steep hoof is insufficiently 
supplied with blood; this is especially severe when the horse moves little, 
because it means long persisting vasoconstriction without the short frequent 
opening by joint motion.

So far, 50 horses with acute laminitis were healed exclusively by lowering 
the palmar processes (bringing the hoof, and as such the coffin bone, back 
into its original position through trimming), and optimizing blood flow 
through the foot with movement, not medication or shoeing, etc.

Removing the cause (overload of the coffin bone) took 2-8 weeks, depending on 
the stage of the disease at the beginning.  After 3-5 months, as soon as 75% 
of the coffin bone was tightly connected with the laminae again, the horse 
was able to move pain-free.