Founder is probably one of the most difficult things that a Farrier and Vet deals with. Using my Symmetrical Hoofcare Protocol (SHP) I have been successful in stabilizing founder cases at a much higher rate than ever before.
One of the most difficult things that we must deal with in these cases is a lack of stability of the hoof capsule. Using SHP
I have seen stability rapidly return to all Laminitic horses not just the ones foundering.
It is my contention that horses founder at a higher rate than should be expected simply because that the average horse has a lack of proper stability in their hoof capsules in the first place and when they experience additional stress, such as opposite leg lameness, or other trauma, the foot simply can not handle any more strain due to delaminations that are already present and the horse founders.
I have seen way too many hooves that exhibit limited attachment of the laminae to simply discount it as a normal foot. With SHP I have seen 100% of these feet develop a 100% attachment of the wall. Some of those horses have been through trauma that Vets expect them to founder, but to date NOT ONE of them have!
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This is a photo of a foot that shows a lack of proper attachment of the laminae. Though this horse has never "foundered" it is easy to visualize how he could easy do so if this foot was asked to handle additional strain form any source, such as a lameness on opposite foot the way that the world famous Barbaro did.
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This "Cushings" horse was presented as a founder case. The photos here show the foot as prepared and shod. The lower right photo shows a mapping of the concavity at the apex of the frog. We will compare it to the same data 2 months later in the photos below.
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This is the same foot as above only 20 weeks later.
You can easily see the attachment of laminae is greatly improved not only around the wall, but at the bars as well.
As well, the bulbs of the foot are showing much less compression and are beginning to develop more width.
The base of the heel is becoming stronger as well.
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This is the same hoof as above only 8 weeks later. Studying the data on the lower right photo, you can see that the foot developed an additional depth of sole concavity at the apex by 13% and the area created by that additional concavity has increased by 14.6%. That is a substantial increase in concavity over only 8 weeks.
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What this all means is simple. Using the Symmetrical Hoofcare Protocol (SHP) has greatly improved the way these feet have been able to carry the load and trauma that is placed upon them.
But more important is that by understanding how the physics of the hoof capsule actually works, I am able to adapt the things I have learned to addressing problems that we see daily. Not just the extreme such as shown here.
ONE MUST understand the PHYSICS of the hoof capsule to be able to REVERSE DISTORTION. Otherwise, we simply deal with the problems; and that should never be good enough for a professional to do. Unfortunately the entire horse industry has relied on GEOMETRY to attempt to correct hoof problems and that approach obviously does not work. Otherwise, we would not see the high instances of hoof deformation of all types that we see today.
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