warmblood x yearling with severe contraction/high heels with possible check ligament involvement

Hi Dr. Tom,

I am an equine massage therapist working in Australia and have recently been asked to massage a warmblood x arabian yearling which has extremely high and contracted heels.  He is already about 15.2hh and is expected to mature to 17hh.

The barefoot trimmer asked to have this horse massaged in case there was some muscle condition that was contributing to the problem.

I found that while there was muscle imbalance, most likely due to inefficiencies in the stay apparatus, there was nothing severe enough that would make me feel it was strongly influencing the hoof balance.  The yearling was very flexible, athletic, not lame and seemed healthy in all other respects.

There may be some issues with overfeeding and possibly a genetic predisposition to short check ligaments in combination with a recent growth spurt that may be contributing to his condition.  He has just recently been put on a regular barefoot trimming program as the owner was not initially aware of the problem.  It is unclear if this issue was always there or his hoof form has changed dramatically in the last few months only.  The hoof angle is approaching 90 degrees and the pastern alignment is very close to that.  He must be standing on the very tip of his pedal bone and was tender footed after very conservative trimming.

Generally speaking:
* Have you had any experience with management of horses with this sort of issues, or any experience with horses that have had check ligament desotomy?

* Are you aware of the impacts this surgery can have on the horses soundness, etc. and the limitations for the future of the horse based on this?

* Do you have any great reservations about using it as a method for managing this condition.

* I have read that there is potential for a mechanical founder by attempts to lower the heels where the check ligament is involved.  What are your feelings on this?

Certainly regular trimming should be done in any case, however attempts to lower the heels concern me if this is a risk.

At this time, I believe he will benefit from reducing high carb and protein foods so he avoids any further large growth spurts, has regular hoof grooming (fortnightly) and a veterinary inspection involving radiographs etc. with a thorough reappraisal of his situation every 3 months or so.

Not having any direct experience with this sort of thing before, if you could provide me with any feedback on this issue it would be greatly appreciated.

The owner is keen to pursue as many natural avenues of treatment/management as possible and is not keen on surgical intervention at this time.

Regards,

K

Hi K,

These are frustrating, but I can say that if you can avoid the surgery and get them to "grow up" without knuckling over, they often do well.  The problem with the surgery right now is the horse's age.  The ones I've seen done at a young age scar back in and re-contract.  Basically the problem still exists, whether it's the genetics, nutrition, environment, poor conformation... hard to really to honestly fix this.  My advice would be to do your work as best you can with the muscles, have them do the right thing with balancing the nutrition, and buy as much time as you can to get him to get grown up.  Then do the surgery once he's grown if still needed (may not need it in the long run?)

Have you seen Chrisann Ware's site Equithy?  She is a massage person and has some articles you would like! 

I think you're correct in saying the stay apparatus is involved.  In fact, the high heeled scenario inhibits this function so badly for some horses that they simply lay down more since they can't "rest" on their feet.

Let me know how it turns out,

Dr. Tom T.