flintfootfilly
Well-Known Member
You can see how much "rotation" there has been just by looking at the front wall of the hoof, viewed from the side. There's a fair bit, but with frequent, appropriate trimming you can encourage the new hoof to grow in at a good angle.
This site shows it quite well:
http://www.barefoothorse.com/barefoot_Toni_Founder.html
Have a look at the pic a little way down the page which shows the angle that the new wall is trying to grow in at. It starts off at the "correct" angle at the coronet band, and then slips forward further down towards the ground. When the new wall grows in strongly, it'll carry on at the same steep angle as at the coronet band pretty much the whole way down the hoof.
So you can see at a glance that your horse has a lot of rotation, and the Xrays will confirm this.
However, what is more difficult to see without an xray is how much sinking there has been (although you get an idea from any dip in the coronet band, and also from lack of concavity in the sole, and any crescent shaped bruise in the sole), so the Xray will at least give you an idea how close the pedal bone is to the floor.
Some people seem to think that rotation can't be corrected. If your farrier/trimmer think that, then I'd definitely change to someone else who has a good reputation for rehabbing laminitics.
Sarah
This site shows it quite well:
http://www.barefoothorse.com/barefoot_Toni_Founder.html
Have a look at the pic a little way down the page which shows the angle that the new wall is trying to grow in at. It starts off at the "correct" angle at the coronet band, and then slips forward further down towards the ground. When the new wall grows in strongly, it'll carry on at the same steep angle as at the coronet band pretty much the whole way down the hoof.
So you can see at a glance that your horse has a lot of rotation, and the Xrays will confirm this.
However, what is more difficult to see without an xray is how much sinking there has been (although you get an idea from any dip in the coronet band, and also from lack of concavity in the sole, and any crescent shaped bruise in the sole), so the Xray will at least give you an idea how close the pedal bone is to the floor.
Some people seem to think that rotation can't be corrected. If your farrier/trimmer think that, then I'd definitely change to someone else who has a good reputation for rehabbing laminitics.
Sarah