Equine Foot Problems

Question 1

How should a hoof be trimmed to fix a broken back HPA?

Answer 1

(Trim the toe, not the heel; can also use wedges)

Question 2

How should a hoof be trimmed to fix a broken forward HPA?

Answer 2

(Trim the heel, not the toe; should aim to also treat the primary cause if it related to chronic lameness or a flexural deformity)

Question 3

In a wry foot, is the portion of the hoof that rolls under the foot or the portion of the hoof that flares at an increased risk for development of a quarter crack?

Answer 3

(The portion that rolls under the foot)

Question 4

What is the typical etiology for wry feet?

Answer 4

(Base narrow or base wide conformation)

Question 5

You have a wry foot due to a base wide conformation, when shoeing should the shoe be placed with excess shoe on the lateral or medial hoof wall?

Answer 5

(You’ll want excess shoe on the medial hoof wall because that will be the wall that is rolling under in a base wide conformation, flare of the lateral wall should be trimmed)

Question 6

What is the goal for shoeing to fix sheared heels?

Answer 6

(Decreasing the load of the displaced heel)

Question 7

What do flat feet predispose a horse to?

Answer 7

(Sole bruising and subsequent lameness)

Question 8

What are the types of hoof wall rings, which are normal/abnormal, and what causes each type?

Answer 8

(Parallel rings → normal, caused by stress, nutrition, climatic or body temperature change, irritating substances on the coronary band; divergent rings → abnormal, caused by systemic or mechanical laminitis and subsequent mismatch in the growth of the heel and toe)

Question 9

How is thrush treated?

Answer 9

(Prevention is the first step, make sure housing is clean and hoof care is appropriate and that the horse does not have any other cause for lameness; for actual foot care → remove affected frog with hoof knife, soak in epsom salts and bandage with betadine soaked gauze, soak/bandage until frog becomes dry and hard then apply 7-10% iodine tincture until adequate regrowth has occurred)

Question 10

You are presented with a horse that has abnormal hypertrophic horn tissue growing on its frog that has foul-smelling exudate, what is the horse’s issue and how can you treat it?

Answer 10

(Canker, radical debridement of the horn tissue and bandage with 10% benzoyl peroxide in acetone and metronidazole powder → can be very difficult to tx)

Question 11

How does lameness result from keratomas?

Answer 11

(Pressure of the tumor on P3 or bacterial penetration around the keratoma resulting in subsolar abscessation)

Question 12

What substance of the hoof is targeted by fungi and bacteria that invade minor hoof wall separations/defects and cause progressive hoof wall destruction/separation characterizing white line disease?

Answer 12

(Keratin)

Question 13

What does the lay term sidebone mean?

Answer 13

(Ossification of the collateral cartilages)

Question 14

What does the lay term quittor mean?

Answer 14

(Chronic infection and necrosis of collateral cartilages of P3)