Doc
Paint Gelding
Doc has had at least one laminitis attack, and the pronounced rings
and redness in his hoof wall tell me it's an ongoing issue, even
within the last month. When I first looked at Doc a month ago,
he had NO collateral groove depth in the front of the foot, and only
1/2" at the heel. (And the farrier joked that I
was going to cut his feet off????...) We're scrutinizing Doc's
diet to account for the laminitis issues. He does not show
classic signs of insulin resistance; it's possible that he has a
sensitivity to something else in his diet. I'd like to see him
off his daily wormer and feed through fly control to start with, and
we'll work from there. In the meantime, he is wearing EasyBoot
Epics for protection until we can grow more sole.
11-12-08
Doc has produced lots of sole, and his wall quality is improving.
He has some pretty dramatic white line separation, but as we grow out
the poorly attached, flared wall, that should improve. He is
moving comfortably now without his boots. Doc colicked twice in
the past month, possibly due to the extreme temperatures we've been
having for this time of year. We'll keep an eye on his feet for
any ill effects following those episodes.
Doc -- and all of his herdmates -- are producing hoof wall ring after
ring after ring. Doc and Jewel both show signs of laminitis.
To see that in herdmates always makes me suspect a connection! They're
all on similar forage (mainly bermuda hay), and their supplementation,
while not addressing proper mineral balance, doesn't seem to
offer any glaring issues. They are on city water, not well
water, so it's unlikely a water issue. But the soil in the big
turnout is as red as it can be, and when the horses are turned out,
hay is spread over the ground to encourage them to move around.
Could the high iron level in the red soil be creating a copper, zinc
and manganese deficiency? Our typical local hay profile is
already significantly high iron/low copper, zinc, manganese.
Adding more iron without addressing the imbalance could easily account
for the issues I'm seeing in this group. The soil is the only
common denominator I can identify that differs from other horses in
the area.
I'd like to see Doc and his herd stop eating off of the ground in the
turnout, and start on a custom mineral blend formulated for our
regional hay profile.
    
    
    
    
    
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