Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Uh, folks, you really need to read some of the veterinary research literature on this

subject. "Contracted tendons" is a *misnomer*.  The tendon doesn't contract.  A horse

that has this happen to it eventually grows an entire distorted hoof/bone/muscle/tendon

structural system, but it didn't start out with the tendon "contracting."

 

This is not a subject that one can solve with intuition and logic.  It is complicated

by the fact that there are multiple, very similar phenomena that occur in the

young horse that result in very similar looking "clubby" feet in the adult horse--but

which have different original causes.

 

Vets are some of the worst offenders when it comes to mixing up their

terms and causes.  A lot of the story that you get depends upon what

was the current story when the vet went through vet school.  Some vets

keep up with the literature, many don't.

 

I haven't done a club foot vet literature search in around 10 years.

Maybe I'll take the time to do another one.  The story is always

changing...

 

Linda Marins