Posted by James R. Rooney on January 16, 2001 at 09:43:34:
In Reply to: Re WLD posted by Richard Murray on December 26, 2000 at 21:00:43:
: I shoe or trim horses living in 10,000 acre paddocks down to horses living in stables.I notice by my records wld on the increase,i also notice the habitually shod horses are more prone to infection and reinfection. Just trying to get a handle on this disease as the more i read and see the more frustrating it gets because i cannot find a common denominator.Pythagoras taught us that the only real truth is in mathematics,wish he could come back and sort this equation out for me. Any suggestions,comments,ideas or ridicules welcomed
I may set off an uproar, but I think the following is the basis for WLD. I hope to write this up more clearly but here goes for now. WLD is a manifestation of road founder, a condition well-known years ago and largely forgotten today. In effect it is tearing of the laminae near the distal border of the coffin bone in the area of the toe. If severe enough the clinical signs are those of classical founder. If not so severe the damage is apparent to the farrier when he/she sees bloody spots in the white line when trimming the foot. These bloody spots are, indeed, hemorrhages migrating distally from the site of the small laminar tearing.
This tearing occurs because of resistance of the long-toed hoof to breaking over at the end of support. It was a common problem in heavy carriage horses with the toes kept long for "flashiness." It occurs today in horses with too long toes and also more in shod than barefoot horses beacause the toe, in fact, does become "too long" in between shoeings. That is, the hoof continues to grow and the toe is not worn off because it is protected by the shoe. You all know how thin the toe of a shoe gets when the shoeing interval is too long. The longer the interval between shoeings the greater the chance of laminar tearing because of the lever action of the increasingly long toe.
What does one do about that? I shall stop at this point and wait for responses. I know what "I" would do. Please tell me what you would do. James Rooney