Laminitis Research: Australian Breakthrough on Insulin Function in Equine Foot

(Text published as provided)

Researchers funded by the US-based Animal Health Foundation announced June 15, 2011, that they have made a major breakthrough in understanding how the insulin form of laminitis occurs.

Drs. Melody de Laat and Chris Pollitt of the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit at the University of Queensland have discovered that receptors designed to receive insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) may be binding to insulin instead if horses have high levels of insulin.

This groundbreaking discovery may enable scientists to develop strategies to try to block IGF-1 receptors from receiving insulin and prevent the disease from occurring.

The receptor also has been shown to be responsible for the metastatis of malignant tumors in humans, and drugs currently are being developed to block the receptor. These drugs may be of use in trying to treat horses that are prone to laminitis from developing high levels of insulin.

Insulin is important in regulating the blood glucose within animals, but horses that have Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Cushing’s disease often have very high levels of insulin.

Pollitt and his team, funded by AHF since 1995, previously showed that high insulin is one of the major pathways that causes laminitis, but, to this point, they had not understood how.

The equine foot is very dependent on glucose for metabolism, but it is not dependent on insulin to deliver that glucose. Horses have a large number of IGF-1 receptors in their feet, but no insulin receptors. Pollitt’s team now theorizes that these IGF-1 receptors are being stimulated by insulin that mimics insulin-like growth factor 1 and is binding to these receptors.

When this happens, the laminar epitheleal cells start to proliferate. Normally these cells in the middle of the foot don’t multiply. The cells are made at the coronary band and migrate all the way down to the sole without multiplying.

This type of proliferation causes the laminae to stretch and lengthen and the weight of the horse to ruin the bond between the external hoof wall and the bone. The bone changes position, and laminitis occurs.

“We’re starting to understand the pathway of how insulin really causes laminitis,” said Dr. Don Walsh, president of the Animal Health Foundation.

Journey from coffin bone to periople in a colorful detailed super-microscopic image! Click to order!

 © 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
 

Read this blog's headlines when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Tweet

 

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.

What Century Is It? Scotland's Royal Highland Show Clydesdale Shoeing Competition Keeps Tradition in Sharp Focus

Royal Highland Show 2011 Clydesdale Shoeing by David McCrone

Sometimes a great photo just jumps up out of the Internet and begs to be featured on the Hoof Blog. Of all the millions of photos in the world, why do these very special ones find their ways here? I don't know, but I'm glad they do.

You're looking at a Clydesdale, the great national horse of Scotland. Each year the famed Royal Highland Show hosts an equally famous shoeing competition for farriers. Shoeing these horses is a time-honored tradition, and there exist minute variances in the way they are shod in these competitions that only a keen judge's eye can discern.

At the end of the competition, the horses' feet might all look more or less the same to the casual observer, but the judge knows better. And even within the strict Scottish tradition, there is room for a judge to have individual prejudices and preferences for details in the work that will often be the only dividing line between highly skilled executions of one of the most difficult shoeing assignments on earth.

After this photo was first published, the photogenic lads in the background were identified as former apprentices, now "qualified" (graduates who have earned their diplomas, and stayed on as employees) farriers, of two of today's leading British farriers, business partners Jim and Allan Ferrie in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Jim wrote when he saw the photo on the Hoofcare & Lameness Facebook Page: "(That's) Graham McBurney on left and Jackie Campbell on right. It was their first time competing as qualified Farriers at the Royal Highland. Jackie won the apprentice championship last year. 

"Although they did not win, both got the hind toe bars welded on and finished on time with very respectable jobs."

Royal Highland Show Archives Copyright-Protected Image

Sixty years ago, the Royal Highland Show farriers worked outside. Here you see the late Edward Martin in his first Royal Highland shoeing competition. And right behind him, at the next anvil, is the grandfather of Allan and Jim Ferrie.  As you can see, not that much has changed, although Edward is sadly missed since his death. I hope that the Ferries will have some connection to the Royal Highland Show for as long as it continues, which will likely be as long as there's a Scotland.

This photograph has a great story to tell. Click here to reveal what this day meant in the life of a very young Edward Martin.

You won't see adhesives and casting tape or aluminum and plastic. You will see hammers and fullers and pritchels at the anvil, rasp and nippers and a knife at the horse. And not much else. You have to do it with the same tools they've always used.

Another reason to love Scotland: tartan plaid ribbons. In Scotland, the red ribbon is first prize. (Photo courtesy of the Royal Highland Show)

Nicholas Frank, Noted Laminitis Researcher, Will Chair Tufts University's Cummings Vet School Department of Clinical Sciences

(Edited from press release)

Nicholas Frank, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, an equine clinician and researcher with expertise in laminitis, metabolic syndrome and endocrinology, has been named the chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

As chair of the veterinary school’s largest department, Frank will lead a group of nearly 50 academic and clinical faculty who serve clients in the Cummings School’s hospitals, teach throughout the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program, and undertake ground-breaking research to improve animal and human health.

Dr. Frank

Dr. Frank comes to Tufts from the veterinary faculty at the University of Tennessee, where, as an equine internist, he was section chief of large animal medicine and led the Center for Equine Veterinary Research. He is an award-winning teacher and also serves as a consulting member of the University of Nottingham faculty in the United Kingdom. Dr. Frank has excelled as a clinician-scholar in the field of equine internal medicine and endocrinology.

“To join Tufts as department chair of such a talented and accomplished faculty represents a wonderful challenge and a true honor,” Frank said. “Several of Tufts’ clinical programs are renowned nationally and worldwide, and I look forward to building upon the clinical, research, and teaching programs already in-place.”

Hoof Blog Note: Dr. Frank is the lead author of this Consensus  Statement on Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) for the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM), as published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.  The paper is available for download at that link.

Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is located in North Grafton, Massachusetts.

 

 © 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
 

Read this blog's headlines and read special Facebook-only news when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page
 

 

Tweet

 

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.

War Horse: The Movie! Trailer of Spielberg's Film Premieres; Meet His Equine Artistic Adviser

War Horse. Steven Spielberg. Dreamworks. Disney. Get ready to put it all together! Watch for the Disney/Dreamworks Hollywood film version of the hit London and Broadway stage play. You'll be able to see it in about six months; the tentative release date is December 28 in the United States.

The War Horse story took on another dimension today, with the release of the first trailer promoting the film version of the hit stage play.

If this trailer is any indication, it looks like Steven Spielberg's amazing directing talents easily extended themselves to showing horses in a very realistic and appealing light. And that's not easy to do!

Sure, the story of War Horse is epic, and a great one. But the horses could easily have ended up looking like stick figures, or limp two-dimensional background objects. Not every film with a great horse-related story line succeeds in showing horses both realistically and inspirationally. The Black Stallion and Phar Lap are two from the past that I think did do it well.

What did horses look like during World War I? How could today's horses be made to look like yesterday's? What about their manes and tails and tack? Yes, even their shoes? Spielberg needed some help there. (©Disney/Dreamworks publicity photo)

When they went looking for a horse to play Joey, the star horse of the film, I think they went to eventing yards. What do you think? Irish-bred? Yes, the mane is too long, you're right. But could it be that's intentional, to make the horse look like he would have during World War I? Ali Bannister would have had a hand in that. Who's she? Keep reading!

Note: for some reason, only the first minute or so of this audio file is playing. I'm sorry. The full file is playing on the Hoofcare and Lameness Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/hoofcareandlameness); I'll try to fix this file if I can.

Take a break and listen to this BBC Radio interview with British equestrian portrait artist Ali Bannister, who literally woke up one morning to find herself and her artwork and her design talents on the set of War Horse. Ali's title was "Equine Artistic Adviser". And while there may be no Academy Award for makeup and hair styling of horses, there is no question that the authenticity of this film rests on the portrayal of the horses as looking like they would have for the time period, and for their work on English farms and in the war. Ali shares her experiences in this first of many interviews.

Here's a sample of Ali Bannister's horse portraiture; watch Theo come to life. You'll see why Spielberg chose her! You can see lots more, and commission Ali to paint your horse or dog, at http://www.alibannister.com.

This video shows scenes of the making of the film in Devon, England last year. Note: the release date is mentioned as August, but it has now been pushed back to December.

If you're new to War Horse, it's both a play and now a film-in-progress based on a best-selling children's book by Michael Morpurgo.


The synopsis, from Disney/Dreamworks Films publicity: The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. War Horse is one of the great stories of friendship and war— a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.

Translation: Yes, of course. But there's more to it than that. War is too painful a subject sometimes to tell from the human perspective. People have built-in defenses in their subconscious selves, to protect them even for the time spent viewing a Spielberg film like Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List. But when you can show how war affects an animal that has no choice in the matter, people allow themselves to feel something--about animals, about humanity, about themselves--they might not otherwise let slip.

That's War Horse, in a nutshell. You feel it slip, and you let it. It's about a horse, so it's safe to let it slip. But of course it is about much, much more than a horse.

Special thanks to Kentucky equine photographer (and friend of Hoofcare and Lameness) Wendy Uzelac Wooley of Equisport Photos and her late, great ex-racehorse Jaguar Hope, who even after his death is doing amazing things. A sketch of Jaguar Hope by Ali Bannister appears on the Dreamworks crew logo caps for the War Horse film. I highly recommend Wendy's Racehorse to Showhorse blog for anyone who wants to see great photography presented in an upbeat format. Her contributions to this blog have added a lot and there wouldn't be a Hoof Blog without the support of generous, creative, collaborative-spirited people like Wendy.

3-D Equine Anatomy of the Lower Limb: Software to Study, Explore and Expand Your View of Horses! Click Now to Order from Hoofcare Publishing.

© 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

Read this blog's headlines and read special Facebook-only news and links when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Tweet

 

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.

Video: Fix My Crooked Foal! Reality Time for Horse Breeders, Skill Time for Surgeons and Farriers

It's that time of year. The 2011 foal crop is here and breeders are looking at them under magnifying glasses. What have they bred? Will this foal make it as an athlete in the long run?

In the short run, will he or she sell at a yearling sale?

Making a foal look and move like a future athlete is a controversial part of horse production. Many foals are born with problems, so corrections are often made. Some are left to see if time, weightbearing and chest or muscle development will compensate for the appearance of a bow-legged or knock-kneed conformation.

Double-click image to view at larger size; image strictly copyright HC Biovision and Hoofcare Publishing

Many would say that corrections should have been made in the selection process of matching broodmares and/or stallions instead of later, in the foals, but the prevalence of conformational defects in so many breeds would make selection based on ideal conformation a daunting task, particularly since a horse's original lower-limb alignment may have been surgically altered to some degree.

In 2011, a sire or mare's true conformation may be better seen in the foals he or she produces than in the legs he or she stood on when breeding publicity photos were taken.

This is the time of year when veterinarians and farriers find themselves holding squirming foals and truly working together to decide what should or shouldn't be done to straighten the appearance of the lower limbs. These are important decisions.

The same principlws used to improve the limb alignment on a valuable Thoroughbred or show horse foal can be used to intervene when a foal is born with more severe  defects. Surgery and special shoeing probably saved this foal's life. (Photo from the Wildenstein Photo Library, thanks to Michael Wildenstein.)

Knowing the bloodlines, knowing the breeders, and most of all, knowing the anatomy and growth schedule of the lower limbs are the keys to success. What might work at one farm won't work at another. What might work on a Quarter horse might not work on a Friesian.  And what works at one clinic or hospital might not work at yours...but you know what worked on this foal's half-brother, or you remember its dam, or you know the farm staff is going to diligent about caring for this little guy (or not).

The video team at Thoroughbred Times caught a typical moment with a surgical team at Hagyard Equine Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky this spring. This brief two-part video follows one foal from evaluation through minor surgery and application of a lateral hoof extension aimed at bringing a toed-in foot back into line with the limb.

Part 1: Identifying toe-in conformation with Hagyard Equine Medical Institute's Dr. Michael Spirito

Part 2: Periosteal elevation of the fetlock and application of an adhesive lateral extension on the toed-in foal's foot.

And what if the foals weren't corrected? Toed-in, toed-out, club-footed foals grow up unaltered in the fields of breeders without the budgets of business-oriented breeders. Most people feel strongly that correction early in life gives a foal a chance to bear weight correctly and therefore develop normally so that, as an athlete, the horse has a better chance of running. And winning.

But would they have straightened out on their own, without the pressure of yearling sales for racehorses and in-hand classes for show horse yearlings?

There's no question that the correction has to be done at the right time, before the corresponding growth plates in the area of the deformity close. Wait-and-see is a decision of its own. Conservative trimming techniques can sometimes be enough. A tiny extension like the one shown in the video can be used with or without surgery, and surgery, as shown in the video, can consist of conservative periosteal elevation or more elaborate screw insertion to impede development on one side of the bone.

The idea is to help the foal, and give it a chance to be the best athlete it can be, considering the legs it was given.

To learn more: Read Dr. Ric Redden's overview of foal conformation problems and definition of terms.

Read British veterinary surgeon James Tate describes periosteal bridging and elevation techniques on the website of trainer Mark Johnston.

Still one of the best resources ever: Hoofcare + Lameness "Baby Boom" special issue on foal limb conformation, correction, glue-on shoes, medial and lateral extension shoes, club feet, anglular limb and flexural deformities. $15 per copy. Email Hoofcare office to order or call 978 281 3222.

© 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
 

Read this blog's headlines and read special Facebook-only news and links when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page
 

 

Tweet

 

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.

Foot Photos: Totilas Used His Shoes at German Dressage Championships at Balve Today, Set New German High-Score Record

German rider Matthias Alexander Rath riding Totilas competes in the Grand Prix Dressage Competition at the German Championships in the western city of Balve June 17, 2011 REUTERS/Ina Fassbender (GERMANY - Tags: SPORT EQUESTRIANISM)

New rider, new trainer, new stable, new vet, new farrier...Dressage World Champion Totilas seems to be putting it all together and, with luck, hit a new kind of stride.

Under new rider Matthias Rath, the horse who won all three gold medals at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games for the Netherlands is hoping to be crowned champion under a new flag this weekend at the German National Dressage Championships at Balve. In today's Grand Prix, the black stallion set a new high record for a German horse, with a score of 81.021.

Excitement is building for the musical freestyle portion of the championships, where the new music for Totilas will be heard in its entirety for the first time. It was composed/created/compiled by music producer and dj Paul Van Dyk and has been widely touted in the international music and entertainment news.

Hooves of German dressage horse Totilas are pictured during the Grand Prix Dressage Competition at the German Championships in the western city of Balve June 17, 2011  REUTERS/Ina Fassbender (GERMANY - Tags: SPORT EQUESTRIANISM)

   

Luckily for us, Ina Fassbender was on hand to take these photos. Totilas's new farrier is Franz Helmke, who is also farrier to Isabell Werth. As previously reported, Totilas's shoes have been changed from the simple open-heeled shoes he wore under Dutch rider Edward Gal, finetuned for him by Dutch farrier Rob Renirie. The new left hind would be described as a lateral extension shoe. Totilas's heart-bar shoes are explained at length in a previous Hoof Blog post.

Hooves of German dressage horse Totilas are pictured during the Grand Prix Dressage Competition at the German Championships in the western city of Balve June 17, 2011  REUTERS/Ina Fassbender (GERMANY - Tags: SPORT EQUESTRIANISM)

   

Totilas is now shod with heart bar shoes in front and a combination of lateral adjustments on the hinds. The right hind would be described perhaps as a thumb print heel with a kicked-out trailer on the lateral branch.

German rider Matthias Alexander Rath riding Totilas competes in the Grand Prix Dressage Competition at the German Championships in the western city of Balve June 17, 2011  REUTERS/Ina Fassbender (GERMANY - Tags: SPORT EQUESTRIANISM)

   

It's easy to see why Grand-Prix level dressage horses often receive increased lateral adjustments in their shoes. The pirouette requires the horse to lower his haunches, elevate the front end, turn...and not move forward. The test will require the horse to do the pirouette both to the left and to the right, to demonstrate balance.

German rider Matthias Alexander Rath trains with dressage horse Totilas during in Kronberg near Frankfurt May 9, 2011. The owners relocated Totilas from another stable to Kronberg on Monday. REUTERS/Alex Domanski (GERMANY - Tags: SPORT EQUESTRIANISM)

In this Alex Domanski photo of Totilas schooling at home, you can see where his hind fetlocks are headed in the piaffe. Also, notice the equipment he wears: lined bellboots and wraps in front, but behind he is wearing a full-length wrap/boot combination, similar to the one-piece stretch-and-flex "spats" (my nickname for them) sold in the USA by the British company Equilibrium. The one-piece construction prevents the inevitable rubbing between a bell boot and a leg wrap or boot, which can pinch or irritate the pastern and heel bulbs on the hind leg. As with any leg gear used during training, these boots have to applied properly, however, or the horse will be annoyed.

Thanks to Alex Domanski and Ina Fassbinder for aiming their lenses at the hooves.

The book you shouldn't be without! Call 978 281 3222 or email to order the ultimate survey of lower limb equine anatomy.

© 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

Read this blog's headlines and read special Facebook-only news and links when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Tweet

 

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.