© Burney Chapman
published in ANVIL Magazine, July 1996
(Note: This article was written in conjunction with the article "Unloading the Hoof Wall," which is also available in the Farriery Articles section.)
It has been proven time and time again that solid sole pressure on a laminitic or a foundered horse (especially a foundered horse) produces disastrous results. If you have sole pressure and the third phalanx is sinking and/or rotating within the hoof capsule and you have solid sole pressure, you actually are placing a tourniquet on the bottom of the foot because as the bone compresses, the blood supply between the horny sole and the volar surface of P3 quickly subsides.
The most consistent and proficient way to treat a laminitic or foundered horse is by the use of frog support. This is a tried and proven method. If you put complete sole pressure and no wall pressure (I have seen this many, many times), you are compressing the circumflex vein and the circumflex artery, and ultimately, you have a necrosed third phalanx due to lack of blood supply. When this occurs, the horse usually has to be put down. Also, any horse that goes from laminitis into a founder situation will form an abscess. If you have to take the pad and shoe off every time you put this device on, you will wind up doing more damage to the horse than imaginable.
It mentions in the previous article that any frog support device is proven to be somewhat effective because it does add some support to P3. One should look just a bit closer to the frog for support because the frog has the least blood supply of any structure in the foot and it can take a tremendous amount of trauma, whereas the sole absolutely cannot take any pressure.
I have pulled several of these types of devices off horses and, predictably, all have had to lie down, as a closer look shows that the sole is completely rotten. It is next to incredible how much damage a device of this nature can cause a horse's foot. You do not, under any circumstances, use sole pressure or sole support on a foundered horse. This was proven back in the late 50s and early 60s by Dr. Jim Kaufman, who at that time was using a sole cast with a soft, rubber material underneath the sole, then placing a hard cast on the bottom of that. One year later, he came back and said, "Whatever you do, don't do that."
Complete sole support is very detrimental to most horses with laminitis or founder. The best treatment with the highest percentage of positive results is the use of a heartbar shoe with a hospital plate on the ground surface that can be screwed on and taken off so that any abscess problem can be treated on a daily basis, if necessary. The system mentioned in the article, in my opinion, is just not an appropriate method for treating these affected animals.
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