Posted by Jan on July 11, 2003 at 11:46:02:
In Reply to: Re: Eggbars Vs. Backwards shoe? posted by Jan on July 11, 2003 at 09:23:04:
I'll try this again...
>>Eating habits do make a difference and so do exercise and other healthy habits.>As far as relating this to horses, Cushings get's its start how? What events in a horse's life lead up to the developement of Cushings? More people just assume it's genetics but fail to take a look at the affected horse's previous history leading up to the event. When the small signs aren't recognized, only the more obvious ones become noted. Prevention would be best.>You do realize the conventional treatments for founder (concerning barefoot cases) would have you believe that the heels should be raised in order to relieve any pull/pressure from the DDFT right? This leaves the coffin bone tilted or even more so than when it first rotated.>Laminae fail because? What would causes a ground parallel coffin bone to drop away from the toe wall connections? >The coffin bone was tilted already and thus stressing the laminar connections already before some trigger came along and blew the stressed connections altogether. Boney support was likely in question to begin with before rotation occurred or became bad enough to get someone's attention. Coffin bones don't need support which causes an improper positioning of it. Examine a truly healthy coffin bone (good luck finding one), and let me know if you think those razor sharp edges were truly formed to support weight in a tilted position.> Shoes are applied to the feet when it's non-weight bearing so the hoof is contracted (if expands upon weight bearing). The shoes were probably the only thing preventing the coffin bone from moving since the hoof capsule was in a 'fixed' contracted condition. Without the shoes, the hoof could now expand and the damage already present was now a lot more evident.> An example, I have a client with recovering founder horses. They are still teetering on the line before foundering again but at least they will not rotate so technically, I guess it's improper to suggest they could founder at all.>Let's just say they can have inflammation (laminitis) then. It still affects their laminar connections. My trim can only do so much. The owner has to do their part as well. These horses are still carrying excessive amounts of fat because their owner doesn't wish to 'deprive' them from eating anything. Kill them with kindness! It's not my call. I still trim their feet and take the owner's money. They can still move their big fat bodies. Fuss at the owner? Little good it does. Hindsight is always 20/20 but just what sort of vision do you have? Everyone who looks at a hoof, dead or alive, will have an opinion about it based on what THEY KNOW.<<
That's not the type of love I was referring to. What you are describing is ignorant spoiling. I agree there's not much you can do about people who think like this. However, I get very tired of the implied belief that only fat horses founder. My horse has never been fat, has always been a hard keeper, and while she was on a small amount of senior feed for a few years (due to my own ignorance) she had been off all grain, grass, rich hay and had not received so much as an apple or carrot in more than a year when she foundered again. If you can explain why, I'm all ears.
Jan