Foot Care Flashcards
basic equine foot care (4)
routine cleaning/picking out bottom of hoof with pick
routine trimming and shoeing if necessary
corrective trimming if necessary
treatment of injury/disease
what is a good foot (5)
thick hoof wall
adequate sole depth
solid heel base
growth rings below coronary band are equal size at toe and heel
acceptable conformation
hoof pastern axis (3)
cannon bone should be perpendicular to ground when viewed from the side (standing still)
should be straight line that passes through middle of the 3 phalanges
dorsal surface of pastern and dorsal surface of hoof wall form straight line
how is sole depth measured
from ground to tip of coffin bone
ideal sole depth
0.3-0.4 inches
farrier
specialist in hoof care
trim and balance hooves
place shoes
blacksmith’s skills with vet skills to care for feet
external/hoof problems (8)
medial to lateral hoof imbalance
sheared heels
contracted heels
quarter cracks
thrush
white line disease
canker
hoof wall avulsion
medial to lateral hoof imbalance: definition, effect
outside toe strikes ground before heel, with inside heel landing last
uneven forces across hoof and uneven loading of lower limb joints
sheared heels: cause/definition, effects
hoof capsule distortion from displacement of one heel bulb proximally to other heel bulb
subsolar bruising, quarter cracks, thrush
contracted heels: definition, more common in what feet
heels narrower than normal
more common in front feet
occurs more rapidly in feet with long toe low heel conformation and with disuse
most common hoof wall defect =
quarter cracks
thrush: definition, characteristic, cause
degenerative condition of the frog
black necrotic exudate and foul smell
wet, unhygenic conditions
white line disease aka
seedy toe
white line disease: definition, location of lesion, causes
keratolytic process on solar surface –> break down outer layers, decrease thickness
progressive separation of inner zone of hoof wall (in nonpigmented horn at junction between stratum medium and stratum internum)
mechanical stress, poor environmental conditions, selenium toxicity
canker: definition, where it starts, effect, common in what breed
infectious process results in development of chronic hypertrophy of horn producing tissue
starts in frog
common in draft breeds