Beckie’s Equine Letter
News, Case Studies, Questions & Answers
And a Lesson of the Month in every Issue
August 2005 -- Issue 4
Hope you’re all having a lovely summer and those of you with children are managing to keep them occupied during the summer holidays.
I’ve got an exciting treat coming up. Carl Longanecker, a Farrier from America who specialises in horse handling and behaviour, is coming over to England to hold a few days of demonstrations. I have been lucky enough to get on to one of these days and am taking a customer, Mel Hayman, with me too. Should be a really good day learning what works for other people with some of these young or problem horses. I will let you know next month a bit about the techniques he uses.
The theme for this months issue is Negative Sole Planes. I’ll be explaining more about them in the “Lesson of the Month.” Kim Hiller’s horse Basil is featured in this issues “Case Study” -- a great example of the good results that can be achieved for horses with this condition. It also proves how back problems can be helped by changes with the feet.
As a quick reminder of the subject, here is a picture showing an ideal foot (on the left) and a horse with a Negative Sole Plane (on the right).
I hope you enjoyed my interview with Mark Murrell last month. I know some of you have definitely benefited already, as since the last newsletter a couple of the horses on my books have undergone lameness work ups by Mark, and some Navicular changes have been found.
As a follow on from this, I have a very special “Expert Interview” for you in a couple of months time. I will be talking to Dave Nicholls, a leading expert on lameness here in the UK, and the resident Farrier at Liphook and Arundel vets. Dave speaks all over the world, sharing his insights on lameness with other Farrier's. I’ll be picking his brains on the important subject of Negative Sole Planes. Not to be missed!
I’ve been pleased to hear about the exchanges that have been going on as a result of my Advert Section. I’m glad it’s proving valuable.
And finally, Happy Birthday to Allison Morris and Abigail Corcoran who both had birthdays at the end of July.
Lesson of the Month
Negative Sole Plane
Definition. The term Negative Sole Plane is used to describe a foot where the pedal bone is at a negative angle (have a look at the drawings on the front page). This can occur in either front feet or hind feet, however during this lesson I’m just going to be relating it to problems with the hind feet.
External Signs Checklist.
1. Coronary angle -- Imagine drawing a straight line along the coronary band, and extending that line toward the front of the horse. If this extended line contacts the front limb above the knee, then the horse is likely to have a Negative Sole Plane. (Have a look at the enclosed picture on side one.)
Note: This line should contact the back of the knee on the front limb if there is a positive sole plane.
2. Domed hoof wall -- Looking side on, the front wall of the hind feet may have a domed appearance to them.
3. Back pain -- Using a pushing action, apply slight pressure on the side of the spine just ahead of the bump above the quarters. There’s often pain around this lumbar region.
4. Tightness -- The horse is usually tight behind, usually accentuated whilst being shod.
5. Over developed frog -- The frogs are often larger than normal.
6. Foot Pain -- When pressure is applied to the centre of the frog there is pain and discomfort.
7. Limb alignment -- The horse often stands with it’s hind legs slightly tucked underneath it.
This condition is becoming more and more common now that we know what to look out for. It is something that doesn’t necessarily cause lameness. Your horse may be fine most of the time but suffer with a bit of back pain in the lumbar area, or is very stiff and tight behind. Things you wouldn’t normally think can be helped with shoeing, but you’d be wrong. There are definite methods we can use to help these types of horses.
Shoeing to help Negative Sole Planes. One of the most important things we’ve found that benefits these horses is having the breakover brought right back to under the tip of the pedal bone. This is achieved by using a Natural Balance front shoe on the hind foot. Because it has no clips it is easier to position further back. The front of the foot is then just rockered off to make it easier for the horse to roll over on its foot. Placing the support further back helps the horse position it’s legs further back which releases the tension on the back of the legs and lumbar area. If the pedal bone is very tipped back the heels may actually need to be raised, to fully compensate for this more aggressive negative angle. This can be achieved simply by using a wedged shaped pad under the shoe.
On side two of the enclosed sheet I’ve shown the before and after stance of Pam Gilbert’s horse Thistle. Thistle was shod using these breakover methods and has really benefited.
Case Study
Kim Hiller—Basil
History. Basil is a 15:1hh, 15 year old thoroughbred who used to do polo and dressage. He is now just used for light hacking.
Problem. Basil suffers with a bad back around the Lumbar region and has had regular spells of physiotherapy. He has a tendency to buck and rear as a result of this. He is very stiff especially when he first comes out of the stable in the mornings. I also find him very tight behind to shoe--he really finds it hard to relax when I’ve got his leg held up for any length of time, and walks off quite reluctantly straight after shoeing.
Diagnosis. Basil went up to Arundel Vets, because of back complaints, in September 2004 under the care of the vet Ed Lyall. To Kim’s surprise the first thing Ed did was to X-ray his hind feet. (You might be thinking, as Kim did, that he’s looking at the wrong bit of the horse. But, as you’ll see, everything is related when it comes to your horses.) The X-rays showed that he had Negative Sole Planes in his hinds. This was affecting the movement of the entire leg, up into the lower back. Muscle tension and back pain was the end result.
X-ray. You can see on basil’s X-ray that the pedal bone has a slight negative angle, and that the front of the bone is actually domed itself. This is causing the front wall to dome as well.
Treatment. Basil was shod by Dave Nicholls, Arundel’s resident Farrier. He used Natural Balance shoes to bring the breakover back which helped Basil position his hind legs straighter underneath his body. Previously he would stand with his hind legs tucked underneath him. The Natural Balance shoes really helped, but some time after this when Kim became a customer of mine Basil needed more than this. I tried putting Natural Balance front shoes on his hinds to enable me to bring the breakover back even further.
Results. It took him a couple of days to get used to the new breakover of his feet. But then Kim started to see big improvements. The first thing was that he wasn’t at all stiff coming out of his stable after a night in. He was also moving a lot more freely in the field.
Summary. Basil is another good example, like Thistle, of just how effective this new and unconventional method of shoe placement is. Confirming once again, the importance of staying open-minded to new methods of treating lameness.
Questions & Answers
Q: What is the difference between over-reaching and forging?
Gill Mercer
A: They are easily mistaken, but actually very different. Over-reaching is where the hind foot hits the back of the front foot below the fetlock, normally in the bulbs of heel area. It is often when they over-reach that they pull shoes off. Forging on the other hand, is when the toe of the hind foot hits the ground surface (the bottom of the shoe) of the front foot. Hence you get the clicking noise when the two shoes connect.
Q: My horse Ted recently started to forge when he walks, there is a continuous clicking noise. Is there anything we can do to prevent it?
Jackie Taylor
A: Fitting hind shoes with more length on the heels will slightly delay how quickly the foot lands and takes off. This helps prevent them from catching the fronts. Make sure Ted is being ridden up together, as if he becomes lazy or tired it may happen more. Forging can sometimes become a habit by the horse, some like the clicking noise and actually do it on purpose, so it’s something to nip in the bud now.
Feedback
“My pony Guilly is 27 years old and hacks out a couple of times a week. He trips and stumbles a lot to the extent I won’t let my daughters ride on any uneven ground, in case he falls. He is exceptionally stiff and very grumpy in the mornings when he’s been stood in his stable. His feet have always been very crumbly and his frogs have atrophied away in his foot so he tends to get thrush. On his last shoeing we tried Natural Balance shoes and the difference was instant. The first thing we noticed was the fact he had stopped tripping, and he was becoming far more flexible and wasn’t the grumpy pony we all new in the mornings. Secondly his walk and trot had really improved, he seemed a lot more comfortable. When it was time for them to be redone six weeks later, there was actually foot to cut off which is unheard of, and his frogs had really developed. Now the frogs were getting used and contacting the ground they had begun to function properly. This resulted in an increase of blood flow to his feet and healthier growth. In just six weeks we saw all the crumbly foot growing out.
I’m really pleased we tried them, as it will lengthen his working life by at least a few years. And even more importantly he is a lot happier now.”
Jackie Carpenter
Handouts that went with this Newsletter
Coronary Band angle of Basil
Before and After stance of Thistle