Crack trouble.

[westmanfarrier]

Here is an interesting one.

This horse had balance issues and developed a crack that went to the hairline. It has been a few months since I cleaned and repaired the crack. The horse has been lame off and on. I cleaned my hoof repair off so we could do some radiographs. You can see that the new hoof is growing out very nicely. The crack is very clean. I believe cracks are caused by imbalance, but this one popped up after I started rebalancing the hoof, so I was frustrated that I was doing something wrong to cause the weakness.

Surprise, surprise. The radiograph shows the reason for the crack. Can you see it?

[westmanfarrier]

Just for giggles, a pic showing the piece of metal I put in for structure in the original repair.

[IrisGreen]

I have no idea! lol there is a little spot on the righ hand side I can see but other then that I wouldent know what I was looking at or for anyways. I can't even tell that's a hoof in the radiograph! lol Glad to hear the crack is growing out nice.

[Remali]

I can see the hoof in the radiograph, or the outline of it anyway.

Interesting pictures! That was a large crack by the looks of it.

[offgridgirl]

Sorry can't tell from the first xray??? The second picture shows up great.!!

[gaited07]

Is it because the nail is too close to the inside? I see the crack and I see both nails. The nail on the right side, by the crack seems to be closer to the meat of the hoof.

[westmanfarrier]

Sorry, the radiograph in the first post is taken looking down from the top at about a 60 degree angle so we can see the distal phalanx (coffin bone). The coffin bone should have a nice radius like the outside of the hoof wall. There is a bit of bone loss, and a big notch right in line with the crack.

The second radiograph was taken from directly in front of the hoof, parallel with the ground. I merely put it up so you can see the metal strip I applied.

[westmanfarrier]

Is it because the nail is too close to the inside? I see the crack and I see both nails. The nail on the right side, by the crack seems to be closer to the meat of the hoof.

Although he is a thoroughbred with no hoof wall, all of the nails are safe.

[JetLagaside]

Ah now it makes some sence ;) (1st exray) any clues as to why there was some bone loss?

[westmanfarrier]

Long term solar inflammation. Probably due to imbalance and/or thin sole.

[HoustonFarrier]

I don't know....I've had horses with pretty severe pedal osteitis, who had no external hoof wall symptoms ?

Steve

[westmanfarrier]

I'm not saying pedal osteitis always causes external symptoms. Quite the opposite. Usually the only sign I see is some broad solar bruising around the tip of the frog. I do, however, believe that is could be the underlying problem with this hoof crack.

[HoustonFarrier]

it'll be worth seeing the hoof in a year, to see what it looks like then.

Steve

[westmanfarrier]

I originally started doing this on a vet call for an abscess. The vet and I agreed that the abscess was the least of this guy's worries. Each foot seemed to go in a different direction. The owner has been hauling to me for a few months, and things are getting better.

I will definitely be following up on this one with pics.

[Joey A]

I usually take my crack troubles to rehab. :innocent:

But on a more serious note, me's with Steve. I've never known PO to cause cracks. I've seen lot's and lot's of qtr cracks pop on horses with contracted heels after a shoeing or two when the heels spread. How out of whack was the foot? Me thinks it was more a coincidence.

Here's a crack that I "caused."

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd241/ZonEquine/shoeing/wt2-8rf_med.jpg

But this is what the heels looked like.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd241/ZonEquine/shoeing/wt2-8post.jpg

Looks alot better today, and the crack will have grown out by the end of this cycle. I will try to get pics of my next visit.

[Tiz]

That is a big chunk. How would a thin or inflamed sole erode the coffin bone like that?

[westmanfarrier]

To save me a lot of typing go here.

http://www.equipedia.org/pedal-osteitis/

[Joey A]

Shane, do you realize that you just pointed everyone to a site that says THIS?

Prevention of pedal osteitis mostly involves the prevention of stone bruising and sole puncture wounds. Developing natural sole thickness is the best approach for the prevention of stone bruising, allowing the hoof structure to do what it needs to do naturally. This approach however, relies mostly on barefoot trimming (http://www.equipedia.org/?p=102) practices that can only be done when the horse is without shoes.

I feel sick now....

[westmanfarrier]

Nope, didn't realize that. Sorry. I had done quick google search and read the first part, which I thought gave a pretty easy to understand description.

"Most treatment options for pedal osteitis involve some sort of sole protecting medium. This could include shoes with some type of pad, hoof boots with pads, synthetic hoof hardeners or protectors, and natural barefoot trimming (http://www.equipedia.org/?p=102) practices." - Isn't this a contradictory statement from that same webblog I posted earlier.

[westmanfarrier]

I was going to put this one up, but thought it might be too technical.

It appears that any associated focal/diffuse hyperemia and/or pressure creating phenomenon is capable of producing bony loss of the solar margin of the distal phalanx. Pool6 indicated that the histopathologic changes with regard to pedal osteitis are, in his opinion, a solar variant of laminitis affecting epidermal and corial laminae of the distal wall and sole primarily in the toe and wing regions. Thus the ultimate appearance is "laminitis-like" in origin. The list of known disorders creating such an appearance without bony sepsis includes:1,2

a. Laminitis may result in loss of bone at the distal phalangeal margin.
b. Focal or generalized submural/solar infections without actual primary bony sepsis are common occurrences and may result in focal, marginal demineralization.
c. Focal loss of the bony contour at the solar margin is a common sequella with type VI distal phalangeal fractures (solar margin fractures). It has also been suggested that such fractures may be a sequella to pedal osteitis.8
d. Club footed horses will often demonstrate focal loss of bone at the solar margin in the toe region.
e. Keratomas can create focal loss of bone if they exist at the solar margin. (Usually the appearance of a keratoma created defect is more discrete and sharply marginated in appearance).
f. Severe or chronic focal or generalized subsolar bruising.2

[Joey A]

No biggie. It just got more BUA shadowing the further down the page you got, then I got to that.

It's more the idea that you can't prevent it without a proper trim, and that you can't put a shoe on after said proper trim.