Re: horizontal cracks/Road Founder

[flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu (Flemmer, Linda)]

Angela C. McGhee wrote:

>  By the time he was 6 he was developing
> >=
> >the odd
> >horizontal cracks across the front of the hooves, though he was sound
>
> The horizontal cracks sound exactly like what I've seen as a result of
> giving a horse too much Selenium, that's not to say the other stuff isn't
> what messed up the horse.  However, I noticed our horses' hoof quality
> went down while supplementing selenium, <SNIP>  Have since
> noticed quite a few endurance horses who show signs of this.

One of our old geldings would have something similar happen - we lived in an
area that did not have too much selenium, and our hay was from a "neutral"
area, also.  After discussing it with our vet, he said it could be a sign of
mechanical laminitis (ie. road founder).  According to him, repeated
concussion can weaken the laminae and cause trauma.  The "break" in the
integrity of the hoof wall was the growth line between damaged hoof and new
hoof.  The horse was never lame from this, but was slightly less willing to
trot hard or gallop.  (This is a stoic horse, though.  Were it my old mare,
she might have stuck all 4 feet in the air and said "No way do I go anywhere
like this.)

Does this sound plausible?  It certainly didn't lead to cracked P3, though.

Linda Flemmer