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Hoof Rings

13K views 31 replies 8 participants last post by  Smilie 
#1 ·
Hi everyone. Can you please check my mares hoof rings and tell me what it looks like to you? The one that is very visible is most probably due to the green grass after the rain this past season. We had a drought last year. I am just not sure they are completely round and maybe a bit irregular in places... The terrain is very rocky as you can see. There are only a few soft and sandy patches. She is not laminitic or anything and she is only 4. I am just worried about the shape of the rings. Her hooves overall are good like no flairs or pulling away from the sole and she has a very thick hoof wall. She is due for a trim as well.
Thanks.
 

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#4 ·
She had an episode of laminitis, a pretty serious one. My mare that foundered in January has a ring exactly like that. People will tell you that hoof rings such as this mean "feed changes." But you can change the feed twenty times and not see rings develop if there is no laminitis.

What happens is that inflammation in the laminae cause a loss of connection between the internal hoof and the outer wall. So there is some separation. Whether the coffin bone rotates or not just depends on how severe it is and how the hooves are to begin with, etc.
When the separation resolves, the new growth comes down tighter and creates that ring. If the hoof has rings all the way down at various heights, you have a problem with chronic laminitis. One big ring such as that means one event with laminitis that has cleared up and now the hoof capsule is growing down tightly again.

This is a horse you will need to watch and make sure she does not get too much grass, grain or a high NSC hay or she may have laminitis or founder again. A young age does not preclude a horse from having laminitis, and my cousin had to put down a horse at age 5 that she let out on lush pasture and foundered severely.

Examples of laminitis rings:


A normal hoof will have visible lines horizontally, but they will be smooth to the touch and not show up as rings or ridges.
 
#15 ·
She had an episode of laminitis, a pretty serious one.
Agree basically with what you've said, but that I don't think it was necessarily a major one. I guess my perspective, in comparison, to have seen so many so much worse, may influence that, but I don't think it was major damage at all. And while the ring appears slightly higher at the toe, indicating a bit more pressure acting against it there(from the bit long toe), it looks relatively straight & indicates mechanics of the foot aren't/weren't too bad.

My mare that foundered in January has a ring exactly like that. People will tell you that hoof rings such as this mean "feed changes." But you can change the feed twenty times and not see rings develop if there is no laminitis.
Depends what the feed change was, but feed changes frequently do 'disturb' hoof growth/cause 'laminitic events' in varying degrees.

This is a horse you will need to watch and make sure she does not get too much grass, grain or a high NSC hay or she may have laminitis or founder again. A young age does not preclude
Agreed. But I don't think so just because of those rings. As said, can be a number of other causes, and I don't think it was a major thing. But IME EVERY horse should be treated as a potential laminitic/IR, given the 'rich' pastures & feeds(not to mention hoof care etc) we're too used to keeping them on.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Hi gottatrot. Thank you very much for explaining. I am new to the laminitis thing. Never had a horse that got ridges and rings like this so I never read up on it. Could it be the sudden switch from dry grass to green grass when the summer came? Also, why did she never show signs of soreness ar lameness? I always watch her because of the hard terrain but she gets so excited sometimes and she runs over the rocks like its as soft as a cloud. I just remembered that she had tick fever around that same time. Could it cause the laminitis?
 
#6 ·
Interesting! I had never put it together that the change in angle of hoof growth was the mechanics of the hoof ring. Makes sense. Hondo has one prominent ring on both fores almost grown out that seems to date back to when I took him off periodic feedings of straight alfalfa to free choice grass hay only. Typical stretched laminae has also tightened up since then. But now he's mostly on grass so I'll keep an eye on his feet for certain.
 
#7 ·
Chances are that she had laminitis caused by the tick fever. If she had good hooves with thick soles at the time, possibly the inflammation of the laminae didn't make her sore enough for you to notice. Her hooves appear to be growing down tighter on their own, so whatever the problem was, it is not happening now.

Grass can obviously cause laminitis, but if she is not obese and doesn't show any signs of insulin resistance it is more likely that she had laminitis from the disease. To be safe, it's always good to change feed gradually, such as limiting the time on a field that has lush grass until the horse adapts. When horses are out on grass, it's always good to watch their weight carefully and keep an eye on their hoof health.
@Hondo, alfalfa is often low in NSC and fine for many horses prone to laminitis if used in moderation. But if a horse is already having weight issues and on the brink of laminitis, the extra calories from the alfalfa can make the horse gain weight, and the extra fat can worsen the insulin resistance and push the horse over the edge. So I personally don't feed more than a handful to a horse that is already having trouble staying at a good weight (like Amore).
 
#10 ·
Chances are that she had laminitis caused by the tick fever. If she had good hooves with thick soles at the time, possibly the inflammation of the laminae didn't make her sore enough for you to notice. Her hooves appear to be growing down tighter on their own, so whatever the problem was, it is not happening now.

Grass can obviously cause laminitis, but if she is not obese and doesn't show any signs of insulin resistance it is more likely that she had laminitis from the disease. To be safe, it's always good to change feed gradually, such as limiting the time on a field that has lush grass until the horse adapts. When horses are out on grass, it's always good to watch their weight carefully and keep an eye on their hoof health.

@Hondo, alfalfa is often low in NSC and fine for many horses prone to laminitis if used in moderation. But if a horse is already having weight issues and on the brink of laminitis, the extra calories from the alfalfa can make the horse gain weight, and the extra fat can worsen the insulin resistance and push the horse over the edge. So I personally don't feed more than a handful to a horse that is already having trouble staying at a good weight (like Amore).

There is also the fact, that some IR horses just can't tolerate alfalfa , and not directly related to amount of NSC.

Alfalfa can also vary very much as to amount of NSC, due to maturity and growing conditions. To be safe, I do not feed alfafla hay to my IR horse.


I had to copy this from a link, as it would not paste:

IR horses prone to laminitis may be sensitive to alfalfa. The cause isn't entirely clear, but may be related to alfalfa having more sugar in the form of glucose (high l glycemic index, and higher starch'
 
#8 ·
Everything @gottatrot said. I will say the horses I've seen foundered have those rings. I know a gelding with identical rings who foundered badly on all 4s. My gelding who has laminitis but clean xrays does have rings but more like the ones posted not those big dents. I would be getting xrays of those feet to be safe.. I'd be very concerned about anything caused by the laminitic episode. Glad it's just once but once is all it takes.

Oh and the shape of the rings is irrelevant (though how the hoof grows is obviously important) the fact that she has rings at all is the problem. Rings are caused by stress but not "oh swapped my horse from this one feed to another similar feed" rings like that will only be caused by major stress. I'm glad her feet look good otherwise but like I said, once is enough so rule it out..
 
#17 ·
Perhaps this is a minor point, but I think hoof rings are something to watch and take seriously.
A hoof ring IS a change in the wall profile. Even if it is small, it means the hoof wall growth has deviated or been pulled away from the normal growth pattern. If it's very small, it was a very temporary and minor thing. But it does show that there was a loss of connection of the laminae. Now that doesn't mean every small ring or ripple is a big deal. But just because the laminae doesn't fail completely or cause rotation or sinking of the coffin bone, it is important to notice that there was inflammation going on. The laminae did start to pull away or stretch before the new growth came down more tightly behind it.

Then we can try to figure out what caused that problem, and try to prevent that issue from happening again. We want to avoid having the laminae become stretched (which is damage) or losing the tight connection with the coffin bone. In the OP's case, it was probably an illness so the hoof issues resolved when the illness did.

I tend to agree with almost everything @loosie says. But if we are going by the appearance of those rings, then you would also look at my mare's hooves and think it was a minor problem. But her coffin bones did rotate and we are now working on reconnecting them with a tighter growth pattern.
My mare had good hoof structure to begin with, but every case is different depending on the seriousness of the cause and how acute it is, along with the initial health of the hoof. Hers ended up with quite severe lameness and the rotation. If her hooves had continued to rapidly deteriorate, she might have had to be put down.
Because of that, I don't think anymore that you can just look at the outside and tell how severely the coffin bones have been affected, because my mare's hooves look so similar to these pictured, yet hers was a serious case.

That being said, yes, even my mare's hooves are mild compared to many horses I've seen where the source of the laminitis continues on and on, the hooves grow ring after ring, and the hooves are never trimmed properly so are chronically lame.
@Hondo, I tend to believe the points in this article by Dr. Kellon about Fructans and laminitis. I've read that NSC = WSC plus starch, and that is a generally good number to look at when seeing how high the sugars are in the feed you are using.
https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2015/06/22/its-time-to-put-the-fructan-theory-to-rest/
@Smilie, is it possible your alfalfa was higher in NSC, so it wasn't the fact that it was alfalfa but rather that it was a high sugar alfalfa? I don't see how alfalfa sugars could be the issue if for example you were feeding one of the alfalfas we've tested around here with only 8% NSC. Even if "more" of the sugars entered the bloodstream rapidly, you still have a very low amount.

But there are other theories, one of which is that legumes can cause hormonal imbalances. It can't be the fructans, since legumes are lower in fructans than grass hays.
Another potential theory is that excess protein can be converted to glucose causing insulin levels to rise, and possibly a common preservative sprayed on alfalfa can be converted to glucose. This is put out by Dr. Getty, so I take it with a grain of salt. I don't agree with her theories of just feeding horses free choice hay and grass even if they are massively obese, hoping they will regulate themselves eventually and lose weight.
https://www.americanfarriers.com/articles/8036-alfalfa-and-the-insulin-resistant-horse
 
#11 ·
It is not just the amount of sugar, but the type, and thus how fast it hits the blood stream, causing an insulin spike.
An IR horse, even if not over weight, can founder on alfalfa-ask me, as that is how I initially foundered Smilie, not knowing she was IR
She was certainly not over weight-not even close, being in show shape. I turned her out with the broodmares, after the show season. I was supplementing those broodmares with some high % alfalfa hay, which 'cooked' Smilie's feet
While I know might feed her some mixed hay with a bit of alfalfa, it is never over 10%
Glucose is a simple sugar, thus enters the bloodstream quickly
 
#12 ·
I've been reading some about short chain fructans being a major culprit in acidosis. As I understood it can't be digested at all in the forgut and ferments readily in the hind gut. Read that somewhere on the ECIR site. If I got it right, ESC minus WSC = fructans. It's getting where NSC by itself is meaning less and less to dietitians without the other designations. It's another whole complicated world.

I have a question that hopefully the OP will appreciate also. If I recall correctly, laminitis rings are spaced out apart wider at the heel than at the toe. Why is this since the hoof wall has been shown to grow at the same rate at the heel and toe?
 
#14 ·
I have a question that hopefully the OP will appreciate also. If I recall correctly, laminitis rings are spaced out apart wider at the heel than at the toe. Why is this since the hoof wall has been shown to grow at the same rate at the heel and toe?
Thanks Hondo. I would really like to know why this happens. Its because of this that I got worried.

Thanks for all the replies you all sent. :mrgreen: I think it might have been the tick fever that caused the laminitis. I have not changed her diet or anything and she is still on the same grass and turned out 24/7. I'll keep an eye on her to see what happens to her hooves. I checked the piece under the hair and it looks fine at the moment no ridges or anything.

I Feel better now that I know what ridges like this mean. Thank you all so much!!
 
#13 ·
Hi, looks like minor & short term 'event' of some kind around 2-5 months(depending how quick they grow) ago caused stress/disruption to the growth. Could have been change of feed, stress, travel, drugs, injury, mechanics - either trim or way horse uses his feet - 'road founder' for eg... whatever. Something to be aware & consider, that these things all have an effect on the feet & 'laminitis', but not something to worry about really. If the cause/event is more major/long term, that of course, causes more major issues though.

Looks like her toes are a bit 'stretched' but otherwise pretty good, from what little can be told from those pics.
 
#16 ·
Horses that are chronically 'foundered' tend to have long, stretched toes and high heels. They are often 'on their toes' more & can't weight their heels well. When there is so much more mechanical force acting on the weakened toe wall, the growth is 'squashed' together, while it is under less pressure at the back, making for wider 'growth rings', making it appear the heels are growing more than the toe. A horse will have equally spaced growth rings front & back if they founder but with good mechanics - ie the hoof is a 'sinker' rather than 'rotating' away from the wall due to the mechanical forces.
 
#21 ·
Very good post, @loosie.



I think that is a good point. I just think it is important to try to understand "why" we should or shouldn't feed something, and this can help us with our decision-making for tricky horses.

If you look at that glycemic index in the link, beet pulp has a higher index than alfalfa. Regardless of whether the alfalfa protein is the issue, or the preservative sprayed on it, or what exactly converts into glucose in the horse's body, knowing it has a higher glycemic index means we should be careful. I would believe you could feed it in amounts like we feed beet pulp to laminitic horses, but you shouldn't feed pounds of it. Treat it more as a supplemental feed like rice bran or beet pulp, and it shouldn't be dangerous.

So let's say I need a little more calcium or protein in my Cushing's or IR horse's diet. If I say I'm feeding a pound of beet pulp, people say "great." But If I say I'm feeding a pound of alfalfa pellets, which can provide those things, it's common for people to tell me that is dangerous. I don't believe it is, but I think it could be bad to feed half or more of this type of horse's hay as alfalfa.
 
#22 ·
I may as well post Hondo's hoof ring. It's bigger and more prominent than than the photo shows. It corresponds roughly to when I took him off alfalfa and put him on free choice bermuda hay, plus 24/7 turn out but there wasn't much to eat at that time.

So I guess maybe his hoof wall started tightening up and it bent there.




Tree Plant
 
#24 ·
Som einfo on beet pulp.
Besides having a LOW GI, it ,unlike grain, is digested as a fiber.
Yes, it has an energy level between that of forage and grain, but a LOW GI

From the link that follows:

'A good feed ingredient for horses sensitive to sugar or starch (e.g., insulin-resistant, or IR, horses). “Beet pulp is relatively low in sugar and starch and has a low glycemic index,” she says, “meaning there is only a small rise in blood glucose following a meal.”

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/33471/beet-pulp-faqs
 
#25 ·
here is the article on truths and myths about beet pulp. I heard the original researcher give this talk (Dr Lori Warren)
There is areason beet pulp is used as the fiber in senior horse feeds and to put weight on horses, as it has none of the associated risks of feeding hot calories, in direct proportion to amount fed. It is un fortunate that so much mis information/poor understanding about beet pulp is still out there

The Myths and Reality of Beet Pulp, by Dr. Susan Garlinghouse « Karen?s Musings & Endurance Ride Stuff
 
#28 ·
what preservatives are sprayed on your alfalfa ? Gottatrot ?
Your list is missing the GI of grass hays and pastures .
In the photo of that horses hoof, is that clover ? Or some sort of weed and is it grazing that weed ? Also if you have an IR horse , you should not be feeding large meals, you should feed many smaller meals through the day.
 
#29 ·
what preservatives are sprayed on your alfalfa ? Gottatrot ?
Your list is missing the GI of grass hays and pastures .
From the info I've read online, most grass hays rank around 40 on the Glycemic Index, which makes them actually higher than Alfalfa.
So again, I am puzzled why Alfalfa would be considered worse for IR horses unless somehow the protein or an additive played a role in creating more glucose production in the body.
I can't find information on glycemic index for pasture grass. I imagine it would depend on the type of grass, the season or time of day, and would probably be in a range at or slightly higher than most grass hay. Anyone have the info?

The info on preservatives was from the article by Dr. Getty I linked to from a farrier site.

Propionic Acid

Alfalfa is often sprayed with buffered propionate (also known as propionic acid) to ****** spoilage if baled during wet or humid conditions. This preservative not only reduces mold, but it also decreases drying time in the field, thereby diminishing the potential for leaf loss from harvesting and providing more baling flexibility. Baling can begin in the humid early morning hours and can continue later into the evening, allowing greater acreage to be harvested.

Not considered to be harmful, propionate is one of three volatile fatty acids (VFA) naturally produced by the hindgut bacteria during hay fermentation. The other two VFAs are acetate and butyrate. These VFAs are a significant energy source for your horse. Acetate is utilized by many tissues including the heart, muscles, and the brain. Butyrate provides energy for the cells that line the hindgut epithelium.

Propionate is a major precursor toward glucose production through a process known as gluconeogenesis. And that’s a problem for the IR horse. Once propionate is absorbed and metabolized, it is converted to glucose. So when you feed alfalfa that has been treated with propionic acid, you are essentially increasing your horse’s blood glucose level, just as you would if you had fed a hay with a large amount of sugar and starch. Increased glucose leads to increased insulin. And the rest is … well, you get the picture.

Talk to your alfalfa hay producer. If the hay has been sprayed with propionate, and excess glucose is a concern for your horse, do not feed this hay. In areas of the country where humidity is not an issue, alfalfa is not likely sprayed with propionate. But it is always worth checking.

- See more at: https://www.americanfarriers.com/ar...-insulin-resistant-horse#sthash.ptXFI2rk.dpuf
I have no idea if any of our alfalfas around here are sprayed, and have not had issues with feeding alfalfa. Nor has it been linked to laminitis of horses in barns I've been at in our area. But if people are having issues with laminitis and alfalfa, I suppose it is something to consider.
@Smilie, I only found one site that stated beet pulp had a glycemic index of 1. I am guessing that is a misprint? Many other sources put it somewhere in the 30s, including research sites.
 
#30 ·
Gottatrot.. interesting. I will need to look on the bag of pellets I purchase to see what is listed. I figured the grass hays were higher than alfalfa, which always puzzled me, as people feeding grass hay swear alfalfa is dangerous. I guess it all depends on where a person is located as to what is fed. I have always fed alfalfa .
It also depends on the cutting of hay, here first and second alfalfa is far to rich for a horse. Third cutting and later , they can get 7 cuttings from a field. I was buying 5th cutting, but think I will go for 4th this year, not as much stem .
 
#31 ·
I would have to disagree with that farrier's article and alfalfa, regarding any link between protein and ,laminitis, based on all talks I have heard, given by equine nutritionists. According to these professionals that work in the equine nutritional field, including research, the idea that high protein levels were linked to mood highs, laminitis and colic, were disproved some decades .ago
 
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