As winter winds down and everyone looks ahead to the exciting spring and summer show season, there are preparations that can be taken in your horse’s care to ensure you get off on the right hoof. Close communication with your veterinarian can help you stay on track and ensure everything is properly addressed. Vaccinations, deworming, therapies and treatments, as well as shipping care and paperwork are all important to think about. At Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, FL, Dr. Elizabeth Barrett works with her clients to stay organized for the upcoming show season.

Vaccinations

Horses are generally vaccinated twice per year in the fall and spring. If you and your horse are traveling to a new area for the spring and summer season, it is important to think about the requirements of that area or diseases more commonly found there. As an example, Dr. Barrett notes that the Potomac Fever vaccine is not always administered in Florida but can be important for horses traveling to the northeastern part of the country.

Vaccinations also need to be administered with enough time prior to shipping or competing, making scheduling considerations more crucial. Dr. Barrett maintains consistent communication with her clients to find the most optimal day to vaccinate such that it coincides with the horse’s existing schedule. While horse owners and barn managers help organize timing, Dr. Barrett stays prepared on her end by counting her patients and ordering enough vaccines for them.

“The responsibility goes both ways,” said Dr. Barrett. “Usually, the farm manager will let me know that they have some time off from showing, so it’s a good time for spring vaccines. I might also remind them that it’s getting to be time to do that so they can work it into their schedules.”

Deworming

Springtime is also a good opportunity to deworm. When horses have traveled from one area to another, it is more crucial. While Dr. Barrett recommends worming twice annually, she explained that it is necessary to pay attention to each individual horse. Examining the horse and knowing the horse’s situation should guide the worming program. Horses that show clinical signs of worms, such as issues with weight and coat, should have a fecal egg count performed no matter what time of year.

Therapies and Treatments

Many horses are completing busy winter show schedules and heading into a break before ramping back up again. This downtime is a great window of opportunity to help address any issues that may have emerged. Dr. Barrett suggests having your horse treated at the beginning of a break to allow more time for the treatment to settle in. Some joint injections and therapies require longer recovery times, so that needs to be planned accordingly.

“After the winter show circuit, I go over all the horses completely to see if there are any issues,” detailed Dr. Barrett. “If there is any lameness or any maintenance we need to do, we try to time it so that the horse has at least a small break before they ship to their next show. Sometimes the horse just needs downtime, and during the spring is often the time they can get that rest. It’s also a good time for different training routines, such as a water treadmill or hill work to change up the program a little bit.”

Shipping

Spring and summer showing and shipping go hand in hand. Remembering all the paperwork that needs to be completed ahead of time is key to avoiding a last-minute scramble. Health certificates and Coggins papers are necessary documents for horses to travel both domestically and internationally. Dr. Barrett notes that it takes at least two days for a vet to complete this paperwork for national travel, so it is essential to keep that in mind when arranging an interstate trip. International travel health certificates take longer to prepare and have more requirements, necessitating additional forethought.

Once the logistics are handled, the horse must be physically prepared to ship. The longer the trip, the more stress it can put on the horse. Even trips as few as three hours can increase health concerns. Stomach ulcers are always a risk, so Dr. Barrett suggests administering preventative omeprazole paste to help keep your horse comfortable. Again, Dr. Barrett stresses that each horse needs to be considered individually, so a horse more prone to ulceration might also benefit from sucralfate when shipping.

“I would scope the stomach of any horse we are worried about that is clinically showing signs that they could have ulcers,” shared Dr. Barrett. “When they ship, it helps to try to feed them a little bit at a time with a steady supply of hay throughout the trip so that their stomach is full.”

Shipping fever and colic are other common issues. Taking your horse’s temperature and monitoring their behavior can help detect the problem sooner. Dr. Barrett also offers a couple of tricks to keep your horse hydrated and feeling comfortable in travel. Feeding a wet mash with mineral oil before the journey helps prevent impaction. Getting your horse accustomed to an electrolyte-flavored water beforehand allows you to produce the same familiar flavor on the road to encourage even the most stubborn drinker.

Additional precautions can be made to prevent other injuries. Considering the horse and weather will guide the best plan. For example, in warmer weather a horse that travels well might do better without wraps, but a horse that is more self-destructive could still need extra protection. Certain halters can cause rubs in warmer weather too. Dr. Barrett cautions that injury can also be caused by a travel buddy.

“It is really important to pay attention to what horses are next to each other,” emphasized Dr. Barrett. “I’ve seen plenty of injuries where one horse is picking on another and causing trouble. I’ve seen more injuries from that than self-inflicted horse wounds, but both can happen. You have to be careful.”

It helps to have cameras on the horses during longer trips to ensure there are no issues. Since the driver usually stops for gas every four hours or so, that is a good time to check on the horses and offer water. For trips of more than 10 hours, it can help to stop and unload the horses to give them a break. Many commercial shippers will drive directly, so in those cases, the health preparations you make are even more significant.

In all of your organization for spring, the most important thing is to stay in contact with your veterinarian. They will be able to inform your decisions, help with timing issues, and make the best possible plan for you and your horse.

The importance of good quality hoof care in competition horses cannot be denied. Farriery can be a major asset during the show season and beyond. The farrier can be proactive in keeping the horse’s feet healthy and thus preventing lameness. Learn more as Dr. Stephen O’Grady of Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, FL, explains the philosophy behind correct basic farriery in sport horses.

The Hoof
The equine hoof is unique as it is comprised of a group of biological structures (anatomy) that follow the laws of biomechanics. Therefore, if the veterinarian and farrier know the anatomy of the equine foot combined with an understanding of the biomechanics and good basic farriery principles, proper physiological farriery can be consistently applied (see Figure 1A and 1B). There are three important aspects of farriery used to keep the horse sound, beginning with the appropriate foot trim, along with the correct size and placement of the horseshoe.

The farrier session begins with an evaluation of the conformation of each foot. This means viewing the foot from the front, the side, and behind to observe the height of the heel bulbs (see Figure 2). It is important for the clinician to observe the horse in motion to see whether the horse’s foot lands flat or slightly heel first, which is desired. If the horse lands markedly heel first with a toe flip, it is a sign the heels have migrated dorsally (toward the front), decreasing the ground surface in the palmar section of the foot, or the size of the shoes is too small. The foot that lands toe first is an indication that the musculotendinous unit of the deep digital flexor tendon is shortened or the horse is experiencing palmar foot pain. Lastly, the foot should be observed for an asymmetrical landing pattern that is dictated by limb conformation because, if severe, a heel bulb can be displaced proximally resulting in the foot conformation termed “sheared heels.”

The Trim
The use of guidelines or landmarks when approaching the trim provides consistent, repeatable results that can be used on each foot regardless of the conformation. The three guidelines used are: 1. Trimming the foot to achieve a straight or parallel hoof-pastern axis, 2. using the widest part of the foot, which correlates closely with the center of rotation, and 3. trimming the palmar foot (heels) to the base of the frog or to where the heels of the hoof capsule and the frog are on the same plane (see Figure 3A and 3B). A closer look at these three guidelines, which are all interrelated, will help to show their importance.

1. If the dorsal (front) surface of the pastern bone and the dorsal surface of the hoof are parallel or form a straight line, then the bones of the digit (in the hoof) are in a straight line, and the force from the weight of the horse will go through the center of the joint. Furthermore, and equally important, if the hoof-pastern axis is straight, the weight will be distributed evenly on the bottom or the solar surface of the foot.

2. The second guideline is the center of rotation (COR). The COR is located a few millimeters palmar (behind) the widest part of each foot. This guideline allows the farrier to apply the appropriate biomechanics to each foot. The foot is trimmed in approximate proportions on either side of the widest part of the foot, which addresses the moments on either side of the COR and provides biomechanical efficiency.

3. Lastly, the palmar section of the foot is trimmed to the base of the frog or trimmed such that the heels of the hoof capsule and the frog are on the same plane. Adherence to this guideline keeps the soft tissue structures (frog, digital cushion, ungula cartilages) within the hoof capsule, which is necessary to absorb concussion and dissipate the energy of impact (see Figure 4). It is important to remember that heels do not grow tall; they grow forward. If the heels migrate forward, the soft tissue structures will be forced in a palmar direction out of the hoof capsule. Furthermore, as the heels migrate forward, the weight is placed on the bone via the lamellae thus bypassing the soft tissue structures of the foot. Allowing the heels to migrate forward also decreases the ground surface of the foot. Two examples of this guideline are shown in Figures 5A, 5B and 6A, 6B where the palmar foot was managed appropriately, and a size larger shoe was applied.

The three guidelines described here can be applied to any foot and can serve as a basis for maintaining a healthy foot and a basic starting point for applying farriery to a horse with poor foot conformation or one with a distorted hoof capsule. Figures 7A and 7B illustrate a hoof where all three of these guidelines have been applied.

Thoughts From Dr. Stephen O’Grady
Most competition horses now show year-round instead of on a seasonal basis. My observation is based on years of experience regarding the farriery performed on these horses. Many of these horses are given a rest from competition prior to leaving for Wellington for the winter show season. Many horses arrive with very reasonable foot conformation. However, upon arrival, horses are often shod with various specialty shoes, wedges, pads, pour-ins, etc., as a means of protection and perhaps to enhance their performance.

As the season progresses and the workload becomes more intense, the sole thickness starts to decrease, and the feet become softer from multiple baths. Now the farriery that was applied for protection at the onset may be causing pressure on the thinner, softer structures of the foot, thus becoming somewhat detrimental. The horses continue to be trimmed and shod on a monthly basis, and the farrier may not be aware of the change in the integrity of the hoof structures, especially the sole, and perhaps some horses may be over-trimmed. As the season progresses into March, the structures of the foot deteriorate further as a result of the workload. Many horses begin to become foot sore. At this point, the farrier options become limited because all the protective methodology was already used at the beginning of the season.

One recommendation would be to refrain from trimming the sole (trade the hoof knife for a wire brush), create ground surface in the palmar foot with a rasp, and decrease toe length vertically from the dorsal section of the foot to preserve mass. Always remember that adequate breakover in the shoe is important, as it decreases the stress in the deep digital flexor tendon and decreases the moment about the distal interphalangeal joint, both of which preserve sole thickness.

I remember the words of Joe Pierce when I was an apprentice learning the farrier trade many years ago, “No one will know if you leave the last few rubs of the rasp on the foot, but everyone will know if you take a few too many rubs!”

Palm Beach Equine Clinic offers a farriery consultation service to both veterinarians and farriers. This unique service provides a second opinion or simply “another set of eyes” available to both professions when treating difficult farriery cases. Please call 561-793-1599 or visit equineclinic.com for more information.