Equine Lameness is...
disability of walking due to crippling of the legs or hooves.
Laminitis:
Laminitis means inflammation in the laminae. Laminitis can be mechanical or systemic.
Mechanical laminitis is caused when the hoof wall is gone or pulled away from the bone structure. This can happen if a horse paws, or is ridden on hard surfaces (pavement).
Systemic laminitis is caused by inflammation (causing problems with the destructive white blood cells).
Mechanical laminitis is caused when the hoof wall is gone or pulled away from the bone structure. This can happen if a horse paws, or is ridden on hard surfaces (pavement).
Systemic laminitis is caused by inflammation (causing problems with the destructive white blood cells).
Founder:
founder is the rotation or sinking of the pedal bone(which is the actual foot structure). This changes the position of the coffin bone, which shows separation of the laminae. If the founder becomes advanced the coffin bone can actually penetrate the sole of the hoof. This causes extreme pain to the horse, sometimes the most humane thing to do at this stage is to euthanize them.
Suspensory issues:
Suspensory issues are caused by the suspensory ligament being stretched, or torn. This ligament is located below the knee or hock and run along the backside of the cannon bone. It runs down as one ligament but branches off at the ankle and runs under the ankle to support the rest of the horse when weight is applied to the leg and it goes back to normal when weight is taken off. It can be considered elastic like, which means that they stretch like an elastic if consistent pressure is applied. Slight stretching or minor tears can be fixed with some time off ( a few weeks) but when the ligament tears completely, the horse may take up to a year to be comfortable again, and may not be able to get back into it's old career.
Health issues:
Health issues in horses can be anything from a minor cold, to a chronic condition of heaves, to cancer.
Most health issues are treatable, but in some cases the horse will need to be humanely euthanized.
Most health issues are treatable, but in some cases the horse will need to be humanely euthanized.