Posted by Patty Stiller on July 07, 2003 at 22:46:30:
In Reply to: Re: Severe Club Foot posted by Anne (Tree) Coley on July 03, 2003 at 22:30:35:
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: : How many cases of 'knuckled over' feet THIS severe have you actually treated, and of those how many came back to walking on the true bottom of their foot after a long term trimming protocol? I certainly have seen a few like this (probably four over the years ) and used various approaches (including barefoot,trimming the capsule to its proper form around the coffin bone). None of the four severe cases recovered to any level of "normal" or sound . One is still here,struggling ,and walks up totally on her toes, with the help of big wedged pads fastened to the bottom of her feet. Her heels and bars are trimmed down regularly to keep the rear of the foot functioning as much as possible but without the wedge pads on the bottom to reach the ground, there would be NO foot function because the frog could not contact anything for support. If we leave the heel support off, she tips her fetlocks over .With the wedge/support on, she can at least load the heels along with the toe and have a base to stand on. Patty
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: Forgot to mention that the cases I'm dealing with do not knuckle over as a result of the trimming methods I use. The cases involving knuckled horses were being treated with other trimming methods which left heels high, bars impacted enough to cause the horses to want to knuckle over in an effort to avoid their heels.
: I also trim a rescued pony who, until recently, was kneed over on both fronts. As of the last trim this pony's knees were noteably straighter! The owner also reported the sudden change in her personality....she's become much more friendlier! My trimming finally addressed her painful heels and the results were better than anticipated.
: I have adopted a medium pony having a decade of chronic founder problems. She's lost atleast 50% of her coffin bones (down to the terminal arch) and is extensor bearing but not knuckled over. She could become knuckled over quite easily though if I set her up for it. I've had this pony since August of 2002. Xrays were taken back in Sept of the same year and new ones will be taken in Sept of this year for comparison. She's still contracted in the heels of her worst foot but because she's forced to use her other front foot the contraction in that foot has reversed. However, I do not know if what's left of her P3 has changed any.
: Tree
I guess I failed to make my point clear enough in the example of the filly I described. I said that the heels WERE being addressed as they are regularly trimmed down to the sole plane, and the bars are trimmed as well.There are NO bars imnpacting the foot, no corns, no heel pain. After trimming the heels, the horse cannot get the heels anywhere near the ground , and in fact standing without support under the heels would stress the flexor tendon attachment so much that it could actually tear away from P3. So, how would you address THIS case?
As well, knuckled over knees are not the same as knuckled over feet. I have also done plenty of ponies just like you describe, P3's almost gone, and they were still not knuckled over as bad as the case I describe.
Tall heels and severe hoof distortion is not the same as a truly knuckled over foot where the flexor muscle is involuntarily contracted, there are probably adhesions in the joint ligaments in the foot, and the navicular bone has begun to actually fuse to the distal end of P2. Patty