Re: Re: hoof soreness

["Heidi Smith" <heidi@sagehillcmk.com>]

> I'm just suggesting that there is a possiblity that there is damage, wear
> and tear, soreness, what ever, that the horse may perceive pain from...
but
> due to a reduction in circulation caused by horses shoes the nerve endings
> are inhibited in their ability to sense the pain and therefore do not
relay
> a signal to the brain. Therefore the horse isn't feeling the effects of
the
> damage. That's all nothing more nothing less. But hey if your don't
believe
> this is possible fine, I do.

Such a decrease in circulation would cause tissue damage over time.  Even in
horses that are shod and worked for years and years, this is not evident.
Furthermore, if this were the case, horses would be in pain when shoes are
removed, upon the "return" of the allegedly absent circulation.  (As someone
who suffers from circulatory problems in my hands and feet, I can vouch for
this personally!)  BTW, decrease in circulation itself leads to pain, at
least in the initial stages.  In the stages past the point where it is
painful, tissue begins to die.  Again, this does not happen in the correctly
shod horse.  Of course, you are perfectly free to believe anything you want,
whether there is any truth in it or not.

> Again as you pointed out PAIN and DAMAGE are not the same thing.

No, they are not.  But as I have also pointed out--repeatedly, I might
add--damage LEADS to pain, unless the nerve endings are altered.  They can
be altered by drugs (anesthesia) or by physical removal of the nerve endings
(such as in surgical procedures that cut nerves, or lacerations that cut
nerves).

> > According to you, I suppose we shouldn't endurance ride at all?
>
> Please show me where I gave you that impression.

In your repeated comments about the damage that we do to our horses by
travelling 50 or 100 miles, and in comments such as you've made indicating
that ALL horses doing such distances are necessarily footsore.

> I just feel that it is possible for the horse, under some circumstances,
to
> have the nerve endings ability to sense the pain and relay the info to the
> brain inhibited, even without drugs or surgically cutting nerves. I find
it
> difficult to believe that you truly don't believe this is possible. But
that
> is okay, I don't need for you to believe it. I just feel that considering
> that it is possibility will make us better careproviders of the horses in
> our care.

Please tell me in what other ways the nerves will not transmit the sensation
of pain to the brain?  Yes, there are a few rather complex pathological
conditions where this happens, but we're talking about normal, healthy
animals here.

Do me a favor, since you insist that shoeing decreases circulation, hence
eliminates the horse's ability to feel pain.  Go get some rubber bands and
put them on your fingers, just a little too tightly.  First, note whether or
not you feel any discomfort.  Then, when you reach the point of numbness
(after they've been on for awhile) come to your keyboard and try to type, at
your usual typing speed, and with your usual degree of accuracy.  Then, take
the rubber bands off, and tell me once again if you feel any discomfort.
Keep in mind that a horse will move off freely with a newly-applied set of
shoes, provided they are put on correctly, with NO discomfort.  Likewise, he
is just as nimble and can negotiate terrain with just as much agility
wearing shoes as he can without.  And lastly, when the shoes come off, he is
still comfortable.  All of which are indicative of the fact that his
circulation is NOT impaired, nor is his sensory perception of what is
happening with his feet.  I, for one, value my own health and safety just as
much as I value that of my horse, and I DARN sure would not get on a horse
that did not have good sensory perception in his feet!

Heidi