Keepp him balanced
If your horse still seems lame on his front legs, but you’ve ruled out a foot abscess, your vet may need to investigate further. “If your horse isn’t that lame, but is stumbling or feels uneven or nodding on the forelimbs at trot, there’s a good chance that the problem’s in the foot,” says Juliette. “We’re now using MRI more frequently to see what’s going on inside horses’ feet. More often than not, we’ll find that the lameness isn’t just the result of one problem, but several concurrent issues. In this instance, we’ll try and treat the most significant problems, including addressing any foot imbalance, which may be contributing to the source of pain.”
Problems of wear and tear
One of the problems most commonly diagnosed in the front feet is coffin joint disease. “It’s a degenerative disease, usually caused by wear and tear,” explains Juliette. “It’s most commonly seen in horses that are doing a lot of concussive work – so hunters, jumpers or horses that work on the roads.” While it’s generally caused by wear and tear of the coffin joint, foot balance will dramatically affect a horse’s chances of developing the disease and regular farriery checks are vital to keep him at his best. “Horses that have hooves with a long toe and low heel shape can have altered foot balance. This puts increased stress on the coffin joint, because it’s at the wrong angle,” says Juliette. “If you look at a pedal bone on an x-ray, it should be tilted upwards, so that the heel of the bone is higher than the toe. For every degree that the bone drops at the back, the more strain the horse has down through the tendons at the back of his leg.”
Weighty issues
Maintaining a healthy weight should also be considered for keeping coffin joint disease at bay, according to Juliette. “It’s commonly seen in heavier horses, such as cobs, probably because they have a slightly shorter gait and a tendency to be quite heavy on their front legs,” she says. “But their weight can’t be overlooked.” “Horses that are overweight could increase the speed of joint degeneration, a bit like people. If you’ve got arthritic knees and you’re overweight, the symptoms are going to be more severe than in a lighter person, because the joints have to carry more. It’s similar for horses.” Coffin joint disease will gradually worsen over time, but vets are finding ways of effectively managing this condition. “It’s never going to go away,” says Juliette. “But with effective management, a lot of these horses will come back into work.”