Hoof care professionals across North America diagnose hundreds of laminitis and founder cases every day. These painful conditions affects the horse’s feet and can prove challenging to manage.
A laminitic hoof.
Similar to the pain of ripping off a fingernail, a horse experiences severe discomfort during a bout of laminitis and/or founder. When a horse experiences an episode of laminitis, whether it is caused by injury, overfeeding or metabolic issues, the laminae in the hoof become inflamed. This inflammation reduces blood flow and can cause partial or total separation of the lamina, forcing the coffin bone to rotate downward. Laminitis can show up as subtle lameness, external bruising or even White Line Disease.
Founder occurs when the sensitive and insensitive lamina inside the hoof wall come apart. Once they start to loosen, it does not take much to pull them apart. Because this fragile attachment of the lamina supports a horse’s body weight, proper diagnosis and treatment help support fast recovery.
Pour-in Pads for Extra Comfort and Support
After making a founder diagnosis, the first step to recovery starts when a farrier shoes the affected hoof. Although shoeing is a must, the shoe will displace the horse’s weight onto the hoof wall. When the horse moves with undistributed weight, the coffin bone and sole moves downward toward the ground and creates more stress on the already inflamed lamina. Thus, a pad needs to be applied to aid the recovery process and help mitigate the horse’s discomfort.
To support the bone column and sole during the treatment process, pour-in pads help relieve the stress between the hoof wall and the lamina. Vettec’s Equi-Pak offers a versatile solution that is easy to apply, sets quickly and produces a soft, resilient supportive pad material. Urethane, liquid pour-in pads relieve the internal stress within the hoof capsule and support the bony column. The liquid pad technology bonds to the foot and withstands the weight of the horse.
If left untreated, laminitis and founder can cause permanent structural changes in a horse’s foot. Using liquid pad materials, farriers can take the necessary steps towards a successful recovery.
Vettec’s Equi-Pak cartridges.
