Thermography of the hoof and limb

This post on Easycare's blog is very interesting, written by Duncan McLaughlin:

Thanks to EasyCare, I recently had the opportunity to attend a four-day equine thermography course with Donna Harper DVM. Dr Harper is one of the pioneers of equine thermography and has a wealth of knowledge to share, which she does very generously. Thermography uses an infra-red camera to translate skin surface temperature into colour screen-images. This enables us to look at the heat patterns on a horse and detect any anomalies in those heat patterns. I am really looking forward to playing around with thermography - wouldn't it be nice to get some controlled comparisons of heat patterns in barefoot, booted and shod horses?

This is a thermograph of the right front sole of one of my horses after day three (150 miles) of a five day (250 miles) ride back in 2006. The horse was booted in Easyboot Bares for the entire ride. It's hard to argue with such a nice heat pattern. Image by Jean Koek.

In the course, Dr Harper covers not only theory and practice for the thermograph technician but also stresses the need to understand, limit and correct for 'artefacts' that will compromise the integrity of the image. She also emphasises that correct reading of images requires an in-depth understanding of anatomy and physiology.

This image has been doing the rounds for years. Usually it is suggested to represent what happens to limb circulation when a horse is shod (front right) compared to unshod (other three feet). In fact, what it actually shows is a heat pattern absolutely consistent with cervical nerve dysfunction - that is, the shoe on the front right is largely irrelevant to the cool temperature pattern seen here.

How to measure for hoof boots video

This video is very useful to show you how to measure your horse for hoof boots. When measuring your horses hooves, it is best to measure in mm for accuracy and measurements should always be taken after a fresh trim. There are many excellent videos on you tube from Easycare showing everything from fitting boots to replacing worn parts or broken cables.

Easyboot and Easyboot Epic range of adjustment

There are a variety of cable adjustments can be made to secure an Easyboot or Easyboot Epic on your horses hoof. The ideal adjustment is one that will require more strength to push the buckle down than most people can do with their hands, using your heel to step on the buckle is an easy way to close the boot. If the buckle goes down too easily, then chances are it won't stay fastened because it is too loose.

Have a look at the pictures below for a guide to the different positions you can use to secure the boots:
This picture shows how the boot looks before applying the hoof boots




This is the standard way to fit the cables, up through the central groove in the buckle system- a good starting point.




This is the loosest setting possible, and works for horses in the upper ranges of the measurements or those with an upright hoof.




This is an intermediate setting between the two




This is a tighter setting, putting the cable through the centre with one part and the other part going around the side. As the cable is on a pulley system, this will not cause an unevenness to the fastening.




This is the tightest setting, ideal for a shallow hoof angle or hoof on the smaller end of the measurements.



Another handy tip... Rather than using a screw driver or Hoof Pick to open the buckle, use the nylon pull strap that comes with the boot. Just slide it under the buckle so that you can pull it up with both hands. This will give you the leverage you need to pull the buckle up without needing any tools!

Comfort pads- the essential addition to hoof boots!

A barefoot horses hoof differs in many ways from a shod horses foot, but one noticeable and very important feature is the way the hoof loads when it hits the ground. A naturally bare hoof will support the weight and shock accross the whole foot, unlike a shod horse that loads peripherally (on the wall of the hoof alone). The hoof wall was never designed to take the whole load, and unless the shod horse is working in a fairly deep surface it will miss out on this important additional support. Other than on a totally flat surface such as a road (which it is advisable to only walk or gentle trotting uphill due to the shock involved, although this is obviously substantially less bare hooved than shod!). When using a hoof boot, you are creating a flat surface for the hoof to walk on, no matter what the terrain. In order to counteract the potential for peripheral loading, it is advisable to always use a pad, and replace them when they become too flat to support the sole. A 6mm medium or soft comfort pad is ideal for horses that have no preexisting problems, and can be used in any of the boots including the Easyboot Glove. If the horse is sore or has limb problems including minor things such as windgalls or sore shins as 12mm pad would be beneficial. All riding hoof boots other than the glove will take a 12mm pad without the need to alter the sizing.

February Update from Karen and Bond

Karen and Bond are Trelawne Equine's sponsored riders for 2010, and are helping us to put the Easycare hoof boots well and truely through their paces! Karen writes:

February started off well, with Looey and Subah upping their training distance in boots and also barefoot. We’d managed to sort out Subah’s girth issue by going back to a good old fashioned cord girth. Unfortunately, Looey started with some rubs from the gaiters as we increased the distance in training. We had another look at the fitting details and decided that because he’s in size 3 and 2.5 gloves (big clodhopping feet for an Arab!), the gaiters were actually too big. After discussing things over with Lucy at Trelawne Equine, we decided to get size 1 gaiters and have them stitched onto the size 3 and 2.5 boot attachment. Our local saddler, Peter Duggan, did a great job, despite his original misgivings about weakening the gaiter. This meant that Looey was without boots for a couple of weeks but his feet are in great shape and he continued to fly over all terrain completely barefoot with no issues.

I decided that I could probably benefit from some lessons, especially with Subah, so mid-February saw us hiring a local indoor arena and having a lesson with Laura Butler from Inspired Equitation. The idea was to work on my position in order to help Subah use his abdominal muscles properly, lengthen his stride and work over his back. We had an interesting lesson in more ways than one. First off, diggers were being driven round the side of the arena. Subah had a couple of explosive moments about this, but I manage to stay on board since I was expecting him to freak. Once they’d parked up, he began to relax and so did I, resulting in some lovely lengthened strides. Laura had already deduced that Subah really didn’t know where his back feet were and had given me some things to work on at home. However, I wasn’t expecting him to demonstrate this is such an extreme way. He clipped a trotting pole with one hind foot as we were walking round the outside of the arena, completely exploded, leapt in the air sideways, landed with me just about hanging on and then freaked because of me and leapt again dumping me heavily on a rather compacted sand surface which felt like landing on concrete! OUCH!! I was in one piece but knew I’d be very colourful in a few days. I managed to climb back on, finish the lesson and hack home. After 2 days, I was aching from head to toe, but luckily I managed to go to my regular pilates class and stretch out all the aches and pains.

Some more snow put a short hold on our training, we’d entered our first organised training ride at the end of February. I did wonder if we’d done enough work with them. Looey has held a lot of his fitness from last year, but Subah hasn’t had a full year of being ridden, so we need to take things steadier with him. We’d got Looey’s boots back from the saddler and managed one trial run in them before the ride. They looked much better…we could now tighten them properly, so there were no gaps. Subah was now in a new endurance saddle but I was having “ issues” with it. I was struggling keeping my right foot in the stirrup and felt that I was riding lop sided. Bond said that I seemed to be twisting in the saddle. Bond agreed to ride Subah on the ride, since I’ve had back problems in the past and didn’t want to exacerbate anything with Subah or me by riding crookedly. Bond was also having a rough time with Looey, since he was being very competitive and had started to pull his arms out at every opportunity in order to get in front of Subah. For some reason, Looey doesn’t muck about as much with me – maybe he’s glad to have a few stone less to carry!!

The ride was only about an hours drive away in Stockport, organised by the local bridleways association in connection with Lancashire Endurance Group. The weather forecast was mixed – we might even have snow! However, on the day it was overcast, chilly, but at least it was dry. The route was 21km of very mixed going, really good for a youngster – we rode round the edge of towns, through parkland, rough tracks out into the countryside, over bridges, horse stiles, through deep mud. We had a few opportunities to canter but the going mainly dictated trotting and the odd walk on really slippy, muddy grass. The boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves and so did we! They skipped round at an average speed of 10kph. It was really nice to see everyone out and about again. These training rides are brilliant value for money. Helen, the organiser had even included a choice of sandwiches, crisps, choccie biscuit and a drink – all for a tenner!

We’d booted all round with the Easyboot Gloves and decided not to use the power straps, just to see how well they stayed on, especially with Subah since he has wider than long feet. They didn’t budge. However Looey suffered some rubs on his pasterns again. So, we’ve got a bit of experimenting to do with him. Some ideas that we’re going to try are using pastern wraps under the gaiters, or taking the gaiters off and wrapping athletic tape round his hoof to help secure the boot, so we’ll keep you posted as to which we think works best. However, we’re also looking forward to trying the “new” gaiter which should be available soon.

Looey and Subah, also had an MOT from our physio this month. Just as well, since Fiona uncovered why we were having problems riding Subah. It seems that he did injure himself when he chucked me off after all. The right side of his back was really tight and he also had a tight muscle in his right buttock! This was making him banana shaped – hence I couldn’t keep my right stirrup and kept feeling as if I was crooked. Bond had felt the same on the ride and we realised that it was either Subah or the saddle which was the problem. At least we now know! So Subah is currently not being ridden but doing lots of stretching exercises and being long reined and lunged in the Pessoa to encourage him to stretch through his back. He only needs a week off and will the hopefully be back up and running for another couple of training rides in March.

Easycare Nitrile Gloves now available

Trelawne Equine is bringing another superb product into the UK, the Easycare nitrile gloves. These durable gloves are strong yet supple, and ideal for wearing whilst applying hoof boots or trimming, as well as general yard work or anytime you need a strong glove that still gives you feel. The gloves retail at £8.99 and come in sizes small to extra large, and are unisex so ideal for male or female trrimmers and boot fitters. The Easycare nitrile gloves are the ideal addition to any barefoot owners tack box. For trade enquiries or your nearest stockist, please contact Trelawne Equine on 0844 257 8585 or email sales@trelawneequine.co.uk.