Laminitis in a Moose? Vermont's "Pete the Moose" Isn't the First--Just the Most Famous--Moose to Founder

The state of Vermont is astir today with the news that one of its most beloved--and controversial--residents has succumbed to what is being called "laminitis". The latest victim of the merciless foot disease is not one of the Green Mountain State's signature Morgans. It's not an iconic draft horse on one of the dairy farms. It's not even a backyard pony.

This time laminitis--or something like it--has led to a sad ending for a moose.

Not just any moose, mind you, but Pete the Moose. And the citizens want to know what's been going on.

First, the setting: Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. A section of the United States inhabited by far fewer people than animals, and visited by even fewer. That said, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. You just can't quite get there from here. Or anywhere. It's a corner of Vermont wedged between Quebec and New Hampshire, but that doesn't really matter because you probably won't ever have a reason to go there.

These might be considered "normal" moose claws, or hooves. (Cathleen Shattuck photo)

Then, some background: Pete was injured as a mooseling. He was attacked by dogs and left to die. But he was nursed back to health for over a year by David the Vermonter. They became attached, best buddies, an odd couple in the interspecies world order of things. Things got messy when the state government ruled that David didn't "own" Pete. They decided that if Pete couldn't live on his own in the wild, it would be all right if Pete went to live in a hunting preserve with some imported elk.

Then the state had second thoughts. Things got even messier. Just suppose one of those elk had a disease like BSE, or "chronic wasting disease" (think: a wildlife version of mad cow disease) and Pete contracted it. Then suppose somehow Pete escaped and went back into the wild and spread the disease around Vermont.

Enter: lawyers, courts, the governor. Was this a wildlife issue or an agriculture crisis? Pete received the death sentence. But wait! Then the governor (also named Pete) stepped in and pardoned him, forcing a stay of execution.

An ABC-TV news segment on Pete in late 2009

Pete became quite a celebrity. He had over 6000 "friends" on Facebook. If you can have a big cat or a poisonous snake for a pet, why can't David have a moose?

A video of David, Pete's friend, when the state government was threatening to "remove" Pete. He was living in a 600-acre private game sanctuary for elk at the time but the state thought he was a public health risk. 

Things went quiet for a while. We didn't hear anything about Pete. Then he turned up dead. Or didn't turn up, as the case may be.

The news this morning from Vermont is that Pete died on Labor Day when "tranquilized" (no further information given) in order to have his hooves trimmed.

Vermont Fish &Wildlife Department Commissioner Patrick Berry said in a press statement: "Most of the people who have been fans of Pete the Moose have never fully understood the story," he said. "It's not a good idea to trap wildlife behind a fence and feed them beer and doughnuts. This is a good example of what happens when you don't keep wildlife wild."

"The hoof condition he was being treated for likely was caused by eating corn and other foods not part of a moose’s normal diet during his years in captivity," Berry is quoted as saying in the Burlington Free Press.

According to ABC News, Pete enjoyed munching on apples, bananas and Snickers candy bars but refused to eat Milky Ways.

Meanwhile, Pete's body disappeared. According to state law, the carcass needs to be tested for chronic wasting disease.

So in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, there may still a moose on the loose  but someone is going to need to produce a carcass.

Laminitis in moose around the country may actually be on the rise. North Dakota is one state that is concerned about the problem, as moose migrate into farmland and feed on grain. A study by Butler et al followed a series of necropsies on four moose believed to have died from grain overload. In particular, "Case A" from that study was described: "... was in good body condition and was presented at necropsy with moderate postmortem change. It was noted that all 4 digits had severely overgrown claws. The hind and front claws were approximately 30 cm and 20 cm longer than normal, respectively. Separation of the dorsal claw from the third phalanx was evident. Severe congestion was noted around the distal aspects of the third phalanx in both front digits.... A diagnosis of severe, chronic laminitis in all 4 feet was made." That paper was published in Alces, the journal of moose.

A paper published by the University of Zurich chronicled a zoo moose diagnosed with laminitis. Postmortal radiographic diagnosis of laminitis in a captive European moose (Alces alces) by Clauss et al is available as a free pdf download.

"Abnormal keratinazation" on the Redoubt Blog

In 2009, the Redoubt Reporter on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska marveled when a moose was hit on the highway and its hooves proved to be at least 6-10 inches longer than normal. (See photo.)

Research going back to 1977 in Alaska begs the definition of what laminitis is. Indications of Copper Deficiency in a Subpopulation of Alaskan Moose by Flynn et al described a copper and sulfur deficiency that caused abnormal keratinization of moose hooves. "Faulty keratinization was linked with copper deficiency by both mineral element analyses and photoelectron spectroscopy. Decreased copper and sulfur hoof content and an abnormal electron spectroscopy chemical analysis (ESCA) spectra indicated incomplete sulfur cross-linking in the hoof keratin."
According to the European Bioinformatics Institute, keratinization is defined as "the process in which the cytoplasm of the outermost cells of the vertebrate epidermis is replaced by keratin. Keratinization occurs in the stratum corneum, feathers, hair, claws, nails, hooves, and horns."

That paper was published in the Journal of Nutrition and can be downloaded for free by clicking on the link.

Hoof deformities of elk have also been studied; a poster presentation showing anatomical specimen can be viewed as a free-download pdf file: Severe Hoof Deformities in Free-Ranging Elk in Western Washington State by Han et al.

Who knows what killed Pete the Moose? Someone somewhere does, and maybe the truth will out. The latest news reports are stressing that an error or adverse reaction in the use of the tranquilzer probably actually killed Pete, but still more information is needed about what was wrong with his hooves.

There is no doubt, however, that some sort of hoof condition is becoming common in moose across North America. Shall we blame it on global warming? Acid rain? Encroaching civilization?

One thing is for sure: it's not the moose's fault, and the relatively recent onset of the problem suggests that maybe something can be done to help these most fascinating animals stay on their feet. Something's not right but in studying abnormal moose hooves perhaps we'll learn something about horses, too.

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Moosewatch blog from Utah: A kind human has been feeding a wild moose horse feed and hay. Includes photos of the moose's deformed claws. Interesting to see that the deformity is visible on both lateral claws of the front feet.

Presentation "Moose Management in North Dakota" by William Jensen, North Dakota Department of Fish and Game at the Minnesota Moose Summit, 2008.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Vet-Farrier-Therapist Team Behind the Team at the Pan Am Games Dressage Event

The 2011 Pan Am Games opened tonight in Guadalajara, Mexico with a gala opening ceremony. First though, the dressage horses had to pass the veterinary inspection at 9 a.m. this morning: so far, so good as far as we know.

It sounds like Team USA has so far kept out of the way of the Mexican hurricane Jova, but the weather was bad enough that ESPN reported the opening ceremonies might be canceled. And then the sun came out!

The dressage horses have settled down in Guadalajara, in part thanks to the team of seasoned professionals in charge of their stabling, their health and their hooves. The United States Equestrian Federation's Joanie Morris provided some "barn notes" for Hoof Blog readers about the team behind the team.

Barn Manager Doug Hannum first traveled with the United States Equestrian Team in 1966 as a show jumping groom--and he hasn't missed much over the last four decades. The first Team horse he looked after was called Ilan; he belonged to James Paxton but Frank Chapot rode him on the US Team and Dougie was part of the deal. He was around when a jumping horse named Sloopy had to take a boat to Germany from the United States because he was so frightened on the plane that they wouldn't let him fly. That was in 1972. If it's broken, Dougie can fix it. If a horse needs some physio work, he's your guy.

Rick Mitchell, Veterinarian

Veterinarian Rick Mitchell started his tenure with the U.S. Equestrian Team with the show jumpers -- he was an accredited vet at the 1992 Olympics but his first official team trip in 1995 was to the Pan American Games. This is his fourth Pan Am Games. He has done three Olympic Games since 1996. His first with the dressage team was in 2008. His wife Julie works alongside him as a tech and administrator. They are a fantastic team.

Stephen Teichman, farrier

Farrier Stephen Teichman did his first U.S. Equestrian Team work in 1997 at the Open European Championships for Eventing and then the World Championships in Rome in 1998. He has pulled off some miracles in his days, including putting an open shoe on backwards to serve as a bar shoe in a pinch at a horse inspection. It was the first and last time he traveled to another country without bar shoes.

Dressage gets underway with high hopes for USA medals in all events. Thanks to Joanie and USEF for the report--here's hoping the information flows freely over the next week! And let's not forget:

Brendan Furlong, eventing vet

Christiana Ober, Canada's vet

When it comes time for eventing to begin, Brendan Furlong will be taking over for the United States. The horses is his care will be competing against the Canadians, among others.

Under the heading of "small world", the eventing veterinarian for Team Canada is none other than Furlong's Florida-based associate, Christiana Ober of Peak Performance Equine Services in Ocala/Williston.

Randy Pawlak, farrier for Canada

The stable, health and hoof crew for Team Canada is stable manager Debbie Furnas,  team farrier Randy Pawlak and team manager Fleur Tipton.

The Hoof Blog will share any relevant news that drifts northward from Guadalajara.

The Hunterdon County Democrat in New Jersey published a great article today about B.W. Furlong and Associates and the practice's role in the Pan Am Games.

Photo sources for this article: Doug Hannum via equilite.com; Rick Mitchell via Al Guden and Hyperion Farm of Wellington, Florida; Stephen Teichman via Chester County Farrier Associates; Brendan Furlong via B.W. Furlong and Associates; Christiana Ober via Peak Performance Equine Services; Randy Pawlak via Hoofcare and Lameness archives and Forging Ahead.

Colorful, high-resolution, amazing detail! http://www.hoofcare.com/hoofwall.html

Bodo Hertsch: German Veterinarian, Researcher and Educator's Accidental Death Leaves an Empty Podium and an Empty Saddle

Professor Doctor Bodo-Wolfhard Hertsch, 68, a noted international researcher and educator on laminitis and navicular disease in horses, has died at Eichenhof Tremsdorf, the equestrian center he ran with his wife outside Berlin in Germany.

The cause of death being reported by German web sites is that he died of injuries after he fell from a horse.

"His death for us as humans, horses, expert riders and organizers rips a deep hole," said Peter Fröhlich, director of Landesverband Pferdesport Berlin-Brandenburg e. V. (LPBB).

As early as 1993, Dr. Hertsch was studying the microcirculation of the foot at different stages of laminitis and creating angiograms that would eventually yield to the venograms used today. His study "Microangiographic investigations in acute and chronic laminitis in the horse" examined the distal limbs of 27 horses of different breeds as well as of one donkey who were suffering from acute or chronic laminitis.

Most of us in America first met Bodo Hertsch when he spoke at the 1991 Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium, hosted by Dr. Ric Redden in Louisville, Kentucky. "Navicular Bone Microcirculation, Coffin Joint Effusion and Navicular Pathology: The Diagnosis  and Therapy of Chronic Disorders of the Distal Sesamoid Bone in Sport Horses" was the title of his first lecture. We certainly learned the word "podotrochlea" that day.

Even more prophetic, Bodo Hertsch's second lecture: "The Principle of Heel Elevation as a Possible Treatment for Acute and Chronic Laminitis in Horses". He explained to us that laminitis therapy in Germany was based on the Bolz shoe, adopted in 1939. Hertsch reviewed laminitis cases at the vet school and the rate of success of the shoe, which called for lowering the heels. He proposed instead that the heels be raised. His paper is worth reading; it was the early days of raising heels but his explanation of the Bolz shoe and the historic study of laminitis in Germany up until the outbreak of World War II is fantastic.

Dr. Hertsch has a paper on laminitis research in the current edition of Tierärztliche Praxis, the German veterinary journal that challenges the observation that laminitic horses have accelerated heel growth, or retarded toe growth; according to Dr. Hertsch, growth is uniform, but the disease causes the tubules to growth in a different direction, kink, and fold rather than growing downward.

"Growth of the hoof horn in horses with chronic laminitis" examines the correlation between rotation and/or sinking of the third phalanx (P3) and changes of horn growth on the hoof wall. Dr. Hertsch painstakingly reviewed radiographs or performed radiographs on 117 slaughtered or euthanized horses with chronic laminitis. He documented that in the chronic stage the vascularization changed according to the degree of rotation, the duration of the disease and its development.

To quote from an English version of the abstract of the paper: "A rotation angle of approximately 8° was found to predict a change in the direction of the growth of the hoof horn at the dorsal and the lateral hoof wall. In addition, a correlation between the rotation angle of P3 and the length of growth of the hoof could be highlighted. A greater angle could lead to a larger interruption of the dorsal horn growth; meanwhile the palmar/plantar horn growth appeared to be independent. A correlation between a medial/lateral rotation of the pedal bone and the length of the horn was not observed."

Dr. Hertsch's conclusion: "The direction change of the horn tubes might cause a decrease of the visible length growth of a chronic laminitic hoof. Therefore, it appears to be important to differentiate between the externally visible length of the hoof and the real growth of the horn. Apparently, the amount of horn produced is the same on the dorsal hoof wall and in the heel. In horses with moderate laminitis the horn tubes on the dorsal wall were lying in folds, with the consequence of a decreased visible length growth. Only the formation of wrinkles of the horn tubes on the dorsal hoof wall reduced the visible wall length. Formation of wrinkles of the horn tubes in the heel could not be observed.

"Interestingly, the results of this study show that the lateral rotation of P3 does not promote the formation of wrinkles of the horn tubes along the lateral or medial hoof wall. According to our results, a resection of the dorsal hoof wall might be a sensible therapeutic approach in horses with chronic laminitis showing a rotation of P3 of at least 8°."

For many years, Dr. Hertsch was with the veterinary school at the University of Hanover, but had in recent years been Director of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the Clinic for Horses at the Free University of Berlin. After his retirement, Dr. Hertsch had a private clinic at the equestrian center, Eichenhof Tremsdorf GbR, which he ran with his wife, Ingrid.

Dr Hertsch was the organizer of many meetings in Germany and had most recently, in 2008, organized and chaired the International Symposium on Laminitis  in Berlin. In 1995, he hosted the international symposium on navicular disease. He also authored many books including The Horse's Hoof and How to Shoe It Without Nails, with Hellmuth Dallmer, and Anatomy des Pferdes, as well as many others.

"Horses are his passion: he rides them, he breeds them, he heals them," was a quote from a recent article about Dr. Hertsch.

Recently, Dr. Hertsch had been in Great Britain at Hickstead to represent Germany in a special FEI senior Nations Cup international team competition in show jumping among 38 riders who are also veterinarians. Bodo Hertsch was the champion, and he did it on Lucinda, a 15-year-old mare that he bred and raised himself.

In addition, he led the four-member German "A" Team to win.

That was just his style.

I'll miss Professor Doctor Hertsch. His research contributions are important but his vision for the future and his obvious love for and involvement with horses set him apart and above so many others.

Did any of his horses ever have laminitis? I don't know what drove him to delve so deeply into the disease, but I'm glad he did. He could have chosen any specialty but like so many of the people I know and respect, he chose the most difficult and challenging problem in the horse world and looked it in the eye.

Assistance with this article was provided in Germany by Susanna Forrest, author of the forthcoming book If Wishes Were Horses (and the blog by the same name), in Berlin, and by anatomist Christoph von Horst PhD DVM of HC Biovision in Munich. 

Photo of Professor Doctor Hertsch via Eichenhof Tremsdorf.

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Laminitis Conference Open Poster Session Designed to Convert Attendees Into Collaborators

Ideas move the future forward: Share yours at the Laminitis Conference in West Palm Beach

The Sixth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot gets underway in just under three weeks. The conference returns to West Palm Beach, Florida with a triple-focus program in scientific, clinical and horse management advancements in the study, causes and treatment of laminitis and foot diseases.

Today the conference announced an expansion of its popular poster session. Formerly limited to students and scholarship recipients, an open poster session at the 2011 conference will be a pilot program to allow conference attendees to present their own research and accomplishments and to stimulate dialogue among professionals at the conference.

Full details will be available on the laminitisconference.com web site in the next few days, but Hoof Blog readers who will be conference attendees can begin planning by marking their calendars: an abstract or summary must be submitted by Friday, October 21. At least one author listed on the poster must be present to hang, take down and defend the poster during a judging session on Saturday afternoon.

Resources for vet clinics and farriers and allied colleagues who are not accustomed to preparing posters will be available on the web site, including the consultation services of a poster expert.

Examples of some of the topics that might be explored in a poster presentation include case studies, cumulative case reviews, new product trials, stable management protocols for equine rehabilitation, and "how to" instructions.

Direct link to conference poster session guidelines and the required form for submission:
http://www.laminitisconference.com/poster.html

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Follow this blog when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Secretariat's Death by Laminitis, Revisited: The Night America Learned About Laminitis

Do you remember where you were on October 4, 1989? Maybe you hadn't even been born. Or maybe you still remember that feeling of loss, of stunned disbelief, that the horse to end all horses was no longer in a paddock somewhere in Kentucky. 

Only a disease as powerful and mysterious as laminitis to stop him.

Rhode Island Governor Admits He Was an Illegal Immigrant Horseshoer at Canadian Racetracks

The Honorable Governor of the State of Rhode Island was once apprehended for being in Canada illegally to shoe horses. He says that gives him a unique perspective on the issue of illegal immigration and how apprehended aliens should be treated.

You have to admit that he's honest. Or was it perhaps a touch of nostalgia for his past life?

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee admitted today in an interview with WPRO "Plain Speaking" blogger and radio personality Bob Plain that he worked illegally in Canada as a racetrack horseshoer...and that his day of destiny came when one of the other shoers at a track turned him in to immigration authorities.

As discussion of how to deal with illegal aliens rises to the top of political issues in the United States, no one expected any state would have a governor with firsthand experience with the issue.

Chafee said he was fined $50 for working in Canada without proper working papers. The experience, he said, is one of the reasons he would like to see a law passed that would allow immigrants in this country to illegally work towards becoming legal without leaving, as he did when he was an undocumented worker in Canada.

After graduating from horseshoeing school at Montana State University, Chafee gravitated to the harness tracks of western Canada. He prepared for horseshoeing school by completing his undergraduate college degree at Brown University.

In case you're wondering, there are quite a few farriers around the country with degrees from Ivy League colleges. Chafee isn't the only one. Plenty of Ivy League graduates headed to Canada in the 1960s but they went to escape the draft, not to shoe horses. Chafee's illegal migration would have taken place during the 1970s.

An interesting footnote to Chafee's story is that his father was a United States Senator when his son was picked up by authorities for working illegally in Canada. Years later, the horseshoer filled his father's Senate seat until he failed re-election on his last attempt. If he was running for that office today, would someone make an issue of his lack of respect for the law?

I respect Chafee for his honesty. It's a long way from his arrest as an Ivy League horseshoer in Canada to the news of an illegal Mexican stableworker in Vermont who was arrested two weeks ago when he was a passenger in a car stopped for speeding. His arrest sparked a protest in the normally peaceful Green Mountain State, with a trio of protesters arrested. Vermont has previously espoused a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy toward immigration status. Last year, the state attorney general was quoted as saying his state was "no Arizona". The mandatory federal "Secure Communities" program changes that.

Chafee is the latest in a series of governors to speak out on immigration enforcement politics.

When he was a US Senator, Chafee proudly displayed his IUJH horseshoer's license in his office in Washington, DC. He split from his longtime association with the Republican party while still a Senator; he left the Senate in 2006. Chafee currently is an Independent--an appropriate stance for a farrier. And he seems to be working in this country legally.

Call 978 281 3222 to order to click here to go to book page

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Laminitis In Action: Coffin Bone Rotation Time Lapse Video (International Laminitis Conference Preview)

Laminitis, caught in the act: The foot of a horse suffering from Potomac Horse Fever is recorded as it goes through two processes subsequent to the damage in the foot caused by the disease: the coffin bone appears to be rotating away from the hoof wall at the toe and down at its tip; it is also "sinking" within the foot. These two processes are called rotation and sinking, or sinker syndrome. Many laminitis terms have parallel names in other parts of the world or even within the same country. (Andrew Van Eps video)

(You might have to watch this a few times, and if you have a slow connection, you might need to click on the stop button. Once the video is buffered, it should play smoothly. Watching it in full-screen mode helps.)

What you are seeing is a time-lapse of the radiographic view of a horse going through the process commonly called "rotation". What rotation actually is and which part of the foot is the chicken and which is the egg is perpetually debated. This particular foot is also "sinking" within the hoof capsule.

Andrew Van Eps

The video was created by Andrew Van Eps, BVSc, PhD, MACVSc, DACVIM of the University of Queensland. Dr. Van Eps earned a PhD while he was researching laminitis at the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit under Dr Chris Pollitt. Among the insights Dr. Van Eps' PhD research has contributed to the treatment of laminitis is the efficacy of cryotherapy in the prevention of laminitis. He created the video of the Potomac Horse Fever case during a residency at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

At the Sixth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in West Palm Beach, Florida next month, Dr. Van Eps returns once again to speak. Among his subjects will be suggestions for ways to apply cryotherapy, clinical techniques to prevent support-limb laminitis and his intriguing-sounding lecture, "Lamellar Bioenergetics Studied Using Tissue Microdialysis".


You might be interested in reading "Equine laminitis: cryotherapy reduces the severity of the acute lesion" and "Equine laminitis model: cryotherapy reduces the severity of lesions evaluated seven days after induction with oligofructose" by van Eps and Dr. Pollitt, originally published in 2004 and 2009, respectively, in the Equine Veterinary Journal.

He's probably forgotten all about this video. But to anyone dealing with laminitis, the question of whether or not rotation is inevitable in a given horse remains a paramount concern. How many horses technically experience laminitis and have damaged laminae, but have minor rotation or none at all, and why is there such variation between horses? How many horses have bouts of laminitis that their owners never even notice? Is it still laminitis if no one notices but the farrier, the next time the horse is due to be trimmed or shod?

And what is rotation? Is the deep digital flexor tendon, which attaches on the underside of the coffin bone, actually pulling up and back on the bone as the laminae at the toe loosen their hold on the bone, as we've been taught, and as this video would so nicely illustrate? Or is it the weight of the horse on the compromised structures, compounded by unusual posture, that encourages a combination of those forces to work in concert?

A paper from New Zealand published in this month's (September 2011) Equine Veterinary Journal proposes that the soft tissue structures in the back of a contracted, bar-humped foot make it possible for the palmar processes of the coffin bone to act like a fulcrum around which the coffin bone rotates, and that the tendon has no involvement. (See "The effect of hoof angle variations on dorsal lamellar load in the equine hoof" by Ramsey, Hunter and Nash.)

Lead author Gordon Ramsey was kind enough to send his paper and this section begs to be highlighted; using a Finite Element analysis model, Ramsey calculated forces on the proximal hoof wall at the toe when the heels are raised, as recommended in some laminitis therapy regimen. Extrapolating from that finding, he challenged the mainstream concept of coffin bone rotation in laminitis.

Please note that the author is from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and so uses "lamellae" instead of "laminae" in his text; instead of referring to raising the heels of the foot, he refers to mechanically altering the palmar angle of the coffin bone. It's food for thought whether measurements of heels and coffin bone palmar angles are interchangeable.

A typical laminitis foot, with increased heel growth, which would elevate the palmar angle of the coffin bone as per Ramsey's FE model. According to his calculations, as that palmar angle is intentionally increased in some laminitis treatment protocols, the stress on the proximal (closer to the coronet) laminae inside the hoof wall at the toe would be increased. (University of Nottingham vet school photo)

Ramsey writes:

"The first stage of structural failure in a laminitic hoof involves a stretching of the laminar junction (Pollitt 2007), with rotational displacement occurring subsequently. This seems consistent with a mode of failure that begins at the most loaded proximal part of the lamellae, as predicted by this model, with rotation only occurring after the lamellae have been weakened. 

"It has been proposed that rotational displacement of the distal phalanx, as a sequel to weakening or failure of the laminar junction, is a result of the forces imposed by the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) and leverage of the dorsal wall on the ground during breakover (Hood 1999). Experimental results have shown that in laminitic ponies the DDFT force is zero for the first 40% of stance and only approaches a normal value near the end of stance, but that the peak vertical ground reaction force (GRF) is only reduced by 13 percent compared to normal ponies (McGuigan et al 2005). 

"Since the peak lamellar load, predicted by this model to occur at the proximal (not the distal) region of the laminar junction, is more strongly influenced by the GRF than the DDFT force and does not occur during breakover, then this mechanism seems unlikely. 

"An alternative proposed mechanism is that the digital cushion and the region of the attachment of the DDFT are a fulcrum about which the distal phalanx rotates (Coffman et al 1970). As both the DDFT and the digital cushion are soft tissues, it seems unlikely that these could provide sufficient support. 

"However, if the hoof has contracted heels or ingrown bars (Strasser 1997), then these could provide support for the palmar processes to act as the fulcrum for rotation. This could explain why in some hooves the distal phalanx rotates but in other cases, where this fulcrum perhaps does not exist, it only displaces vertically."

Join in the discussion at the Laminitis Conference, October 29-31. The early registration discount ends soon!

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Friends at Work: Will Hellyer Shoes a Real Shire for Virtual Farmers

Shoeing a Shire horse isn't easy. Neither is describing the process in a little more than a minute but The Farm's "Head Girl" Emma Warner did it.

Yesterday The Hoof Blog commiserated with a researcher who had to explain insulin resistance and its role in equine laminitis in less than three minutes.  Who knew an academic could avoid all the big words and cut to the chase?

Today I was thinking that it's equally hard to explain what a farrier is doing as s/he shoes a horse. And I found someone who did it in a minute and a half. "Head Girl" (that's British for horse manager) Emma Warner had some very good video editing behind her voiceover to make it possible. And in doing it, she manages to avoid many of the cliches and misused terms that many journalists and broadcasters inevitably--and understandably--garble.

Virtual farmers make the decision at a web-managed farm

Farrier Will Hellyer is hard at work on one of the Shire horses at the National Trust’s "MyFarm" project at the 2500-acre Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, England, where over 250,000 visitors a year get up close and personal with farm animals, including many from rare species, on a "real" working farm. They also have the option of joining the farm and can become virtual decision-makers on how the farm is run. It's a very interesting way to use the Internet, and would be a great model for a show or racehorse stable, too.

I became aware of the farm in July when they set up a web cam in the stall of a Shire mare who was about to foal. I thought it would be exciting for people to follow the birth and encouraged people via Twitter to tune in.

The Shire is one of two native heavy horse breeds in England; the Suffolk is the other. Shires are traditionally shod with toe clips. Photo by Lars Lundqvist.

It turned out to be something quite different than what any of us imagined. The foal never took a breath after it emerged from the womb and the experience of watching the process turned out not to be the idyllic, joyful one people expected, but rather the hard, cold realism of life (and death) on a real farm, after all.

The farm said that 800 people were watching at the time.

Watching how the farm handled the publicity over the foal's death was interesting, as the public expressed a wide variety of opinions and reactions, thanks to the open book of social media. The farm seemed to post any and all comments, and take the critical ones in stride.

 TO LEARN MORE

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Insulin Resistance and Equine Laminitis Research: Australia's Melody De Laat's Academic Elevator Video

Imagine the challenge laid down by the University of Queensland to its graduate researchers: give a three-minute presentation encapsulating your doctoral work. Tell an audience of everyday people from all walks of life why it matters, what it's all about. But keep it short. Can an Australian laminitis researcher describe equine metabolic syndrome in that short amount of time--using only one slide? 3-2-1...talk!

What's your elevator speech?

You have to have one.

If you're an entrepreneur, a job seeker, self-employed or just someone who doesn't want to be left in the dust of this ever-changing world, you have to have to an elevator speech. Once all you needed was a firm handshake, and a spare business card in your wallet for when you met someone. Now you need to be able to tell him or her what you do with your life and why you do it in just a few words.

You need to be able to get the message across that you're special and you're interesting and you're worth knowing/hiring/considering, and you need to say exactly why--all in the time it would take to ride a couple of floors on the elevator of a hotel or office building.

When that elevator door opens, your speech is over.

Yes, you're saying...But then there are academics. And forget engineers. Have you ever asked a researcher or engineer what he or she actually does? I know what you're thinking: Maybe there are some elevators in some coal mines in some Third World countries that would take long enough for a researcher's speech to get to the point--if there is one, that is.

But things are changing. We live in an age of pecha-kucha, the PowerPoint challenge to present your idea in 20 slides that change every 20 seconds, whether you're ready or not. It's the age of the "unconference". And the two-minute video rules, thanks to the way that YouTube has reset our attention spans.

So imagine the challenge laid down by the University of Queensland to its graduate research community: give a three-minute presentation encapsulating your doctoral work. Tell an audience of everyday people from all walks of life why it matters, what it's all about. But keep it short.

And if you get your message across? You could be the winner.

Last year, Melody De Laat answered the UQ Three Minute Thesis competition challenge with a topic related to her thesis: The Investigation of Insulin-Induced Laminitis in Horses. Her research at the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit (AELRU) focused on how elevated insulin levels, which occur as a result of insulin resistance, damage the sensitive lamellar (laminar) structures of the horse's foot.

And she had to do it on a huge stage, in an even bigger theater, in front of people who knew nothing about horses' feet, let alone about laminitis or insulin resistance.

“Insulin resistance is an increasingly common problem in horses. The lamellar failure, which is known as laminitis, that results as a consequence of the elevated insulin levels in the body is a painful and debilitating condition,” Melody said confidently.

“By uncovering the mechanisms involved in insulin-induced laminitis it is hoped that we will be able to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates associated with this disease.”
 
The Queensland competition was so well-received that it has been extended to other national and international universities in Australia and beyond. Master of Ceremonies for the event is the award-winning science writer and broadcaster with ABC Science Online, and regular judge on Australian ABC TV's The New Inventors, Bernie Hobbs.

I hope you enjoyed Melody's equivalent of her elevator speech. She advanced to the finals, and there are a lot more people in Australia who know a little bit about laminitis thanks to this competition and Melody's PhD.

And--Oh! Is this your floor?

One of Melody De Laat's research breakthroughs on metabolic laminitis was featured on The Hoof Blog on July 1, 2011. If you'd like to learn more, Melody De Laat will be one of four doctoral and post-doctoral researchers from the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit (Simon Collins, Melody De Laat, Brian Hampson and Andrew Van Eps are the team) who will accompany AELRU director Chris Pollitt to speak at the 6th International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in West Palm Beach, Florida October 29-31. 

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Heart-Bars in Heaven: George Platt DVM Has Died

Heart-bars in heaven: George Platt DVM and farrier Burney Chapman waged war against laminitis from one end of the United States to the other. Credit for their remarkable success rate was always modestly given to the only physical symbol of their treatment, the heart-bar shoe. The shoe inadvertently became a talisman of good or evil, depending on where you stood, and evidence to insurers that severe laminitis wasn't always a death sentence.  (© Hoofcare + Lameness file photo)

Dr. George Platt has died.

The legendary veterinarian who spent most of his career fighting the disease of equine laminitis suffered a stroke in late August and died this afternoon.

If you have ever seen, or touched, or made or used a heart-bar shoe,  George Platt had a part in it. The Texas veterinarian teamed up with horseshoer Burney Chapman in the 1970s and together they experimented with treatments for laminitis. They found the heart-bar shoe in an old textbook and gave it a try; the rest is history.

George Platt in 2009

That history was recorded in 1984, at the 30th Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. Platt and Chapman presented the heart-bar shoe as the centerpiece of their treatment protocol which they documented as successful in rehabilitating a long list of cases referred to Platt by insurance companies.

George Platt's specialty, for many years, was answering the challenge of bringing these high-profile racehorses or show horses back from the near-dead. A broken neck in a skiing accident slowed him down for a while and he made a comeback as a lecturer and clinician because he felt the need to keep the heart-bar shoe front-and-center after Burney Chapman's death, and to clear up many of the misunderstandings about its use. But he ended up back in practice in the mountains of Colorado, where he told me he intended to just be a "ski bum". But he couldn't resist working on horses.

A few years ago, George posed for an over-exposed veterinarian fundraising calendar for an animal shelter in Vail. He was at least twice the age of most of the vets who posed--but he stole the show.

He received the "Veterinarian of the Year" Award this year from the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, and it was one of many accolades to add to his long list.

Dr. George Platt (right) with farrier Eddie Watson (left) explaining heart-bar shoes at the 1992 American Farrier's Association Convention. Their collaboration sent Platt off to write a paper for Hoofcare + Lameness on using heart bar shoes for heel pain, which was quite a radical proposition in those days.

In looking through a file of letters from him, I'm struck by how many times he said "Just kidding!", both as he wrote humorously and as he spoke.

The last letter I received from him is undated. It says: "This is it: I can't explain how to fit a heart bar but I can show anyone how to." And that's what he did. 

I was lucky to have George Platt as a friend. He was a staunch and generous supporter of Hoofcare Publishing; all his contributions, of course, were about heart-bar shoes.

I have to say that he, as much or more than any one individual, changed the course of the way that farriers and veterinarians work alone and together when he teamed up with Burney Chapman.

People are always quick to give George Platt credit for the heart-bar shoe because he was the very first to lecture on it. He and Burney Chapman did much more than wake a horseshoe up and dust it off: They either launched the beginning of a new age or they opened a Pandora's box. Even 25 years later, it is too soon to tell which, but how many horses have benefited in the meantime?

George Platt wasn't one to sit around and wonder what the historians would have to say about him and his ideas on laminitis. He knew what he'd accomplished in his decades of trying to stop laminitis from taking horses' lives.

He might not be able to explain it, but he could show you how it's done. 

And he did. Thank you, George Platt.

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