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View Full Version : Founder update: Shelby's new radiographs

LarkspurCO
Aug. 29, 2009, 01:29 AM
I just got pdated rads on my 4 y/o mare who foundered last September. She has been doing great. She is sound and has been in light to moderate work for several months. In general, I like her alignment and sole depth in the new rads, and I am happy with her performance.

The only hitch was when we tried to shoe her without the frog support pads a couple of months back. She became sore within 24 hours, them came sound again again immediately after support pads were replaced.

In the current rads I see a slightly thickened space between the dorsal wall and P3. I wonder if this could be a sign of ongoing laminitis, or if this is "normal" for a recovering founder? If there is ongoing laminitis, wouldn't she be lame? I check for heat and pulses daily and nothing seems abnormal. Still, I'm a bit paranoid.

The plan is to let her go barefoot for the winter after the next shoeing cycle or two, and to leave her that way as long as she continues to do well.

Thoughts or comments?

New x-rays (8-25-09) 4+ weeks after shoeing
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/Shelby-RF-8-25-09.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/Shelby-LF-8-25-09.jpg

Previous x-rays for comparison:

9-25-08: After founder, before clogs
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/ShelbySwanderRFLateralCEVS_9-25--1.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/ShelbySwanderLFLateralCEVS_9-25-08.jpg

12-1-08: After seven weeks in clogs, not yet trimmed
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/ShelbyRF-12-01-08.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/ShelbyLF-12-01-08.jpg

What her ugly feet looked like last December. A groove was rasped just below the founder ring (don't ask me to explain):
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/Shelby-LF-groove.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/Shelby-RF-groove.jpg

More ugly rads from Feb. 09:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/ShelbyRF-contrast.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/ShelbyLF-contrast.jpg
FatPalomino
Aug. 29, 2009, 12:09 PM
I aint't no vet, so my words are worthless. What'd your vet say?

I've seen dorsal wall thickening in what looked from the outside like a chronic founder duck feet (the 'evicular' old gray mare). No rotation, just very thick. It was explained that it was probably the result of chronic laminitis, not a sign of current laminitis. I don't know if I see them on your rads... are those digital? They look a bit overexposed to me.

Glad to hear she's doing well ;)
LarkspurCO
Aug. 29, 2009, 02:36 PM
The vet said it looked a wee bit thick but we didn't get into a big discussion about the laminitis. She's not my regular vet and it was a quick in/out at Littleton just to get the rads for the farrier.

Ironically, I went there specifically to get the digitals but after shooting them their computer system coughed up a hairball and she had to print them out for me, and could not send me home with the nice disk with eFilm Light. They emailed me these crappy jpg files later. The hard copies are good so I think exposure is fine.
matryoshka
Aug. 29, 2009, 02:41 PM
Dorsal wall and P3 appear to be parallel, which is good. Also see much thicker sole. Not a vet, though.
LarkspurCO
Aug. 29, 2009, 03:52 PM
Dorsal wall and P3 appear to be parallel, which is good. Also see much thicker sole. Not a vet, though.

Thanks. The vet was supposed to send me her measurements and notes -- haven't seen them yet.

I'm not asking for people to diagnose anything, though I understand x-rays are considered veterinary territory. I just think of the x-rays as fancy hoof pictures with a see-through hoof wall.:) After all, much of the discussions around hoof photos center around estimating where the bones are and how they are aligned.

By the way the A/P views are much more interesting. She is very tricky to balance m/l and she has developed a bit of lateral side bone (vet called it "clinically insignificant"). I just spent a long while discussing all off this with my farrier and we are going to reset her in a week, since we ran out of time today.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/Shelby-RF-AP-8-25-09.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Shelby/Shelby-LF-AP-8-25-09.jpg

Oh, and note to FatPalomino: We put her on the scale and she weighs 1153 lbs. She is 15:2.:p
FatPalomino
Aug. 29, 2009, 05:28 PM
Oh, and note to FatPalomino: We put her on the scale and she weighs 1153 lbs. She is 15:2.:p

That's 18.59 pounds per inch ;)
Good work.

I'll email you a picture of the Fat Palomino, who is no longer fat after his laminitis scare ;)
matryoshka
Aug. 29, 2009, 05:40 PM
Looking at the rads, her feet appear to be wider on the lateral side, which means the weight is more concentrated on the medial side (some crookedness in the legs would be my guess). Sidebone was probably inevitable and coincidental to the founder. JMHO. Heck, I'm not a vet or a farrier. Just a trimmer.
LarkspurCO
Aug. 29, 2009, 06:11 PM
Looking at the rads, her feet appear to be wider on the lateral side, which means the weight is more concentrated on the medial side (some crookedness in the legs would be my guess). Sidebone was probably inevitable and coincidental to the founder. JMHO. Heck, I'm not a vet or a farrier. Just a trimmer.

Yes, she has crooked legs, sort of bench-kneed, or off-set medially. Actually the sidebone appeared prior to the founder, but anyway...

With regard to the M/L imbalance, I have observed that she grows lateral heel faster, and when she was barefoot before the founder, my previous farrier instructed me on lowering the lateral wall down in between trims. I am not sure if the wall actually grows faster on the outside, or if she wears the inside wall down more. It seems like the lateral wall grows faster, if that is possible.

My new farrier and I were discussing a shoeing strategy to deal with this. If she actually grows faster on the outside wall, she's going to be out of balance within a month of shoeing, assuming she's balanced to begin with. He thinks she may be better off barefoot so that I can keep her foot balanced. We may try some clogs and then if she gets too high on the outside I can rasp it down a little.
matryoshka
Aug. 29, 2009, 06:51 PM
That's what I would have guessed, having seen the rads of a number of horses who were offset medially at the knees. One horse's LCs looked like horns, they were so calcified. The owner thought I was wonderful because I was the first "farrier" who pointed out the sidebone and wondered if that was why the horse was lame. I recommended she get a farrier instead of a trimmer, because I felt unable to help the horse. The new farrier did a good job, because the horse is now sound after a couple of years of unsoundness.