Old froq medicine show10/30/2023 Neither do club-footed horses, whose frog on the affected hoof is recessed. Shod horses, especially those wearing toe or heel calks for traction, do not experience frog contact with the ground. The bars and the frog and the caudal (back) two-thirds of the hoof wall should be touching the ground in a barefoot horse.” A big robust frog that hits the ground and has as much contact as the hoof wall and the bars (the folds of the wall on either side of the frog) is doing what it was meant to do. “A contracted foot with a recessed frog that never touches the ground is not healthy. “It has a nice V- or heart-shape,” adds Nelson. “This aids the normal biomechanics of the horse’s hoof capsule.” ![]() “If the frog is big and healthy and contacts the ground-and loads at every step-it pushes the heels apart,” says Burns. We see this in snowy and icy conditions, when barefoot horses seem to have better purchase (because the frog’s in direct contact with the ground) than shod horses-unless the horse is shod with special traction devices.Ī healthy frog in the unshod horse should have full contact with the ground when he is standing and should look like a wedge at the back of the foot. The frog also provides traction on various surfaces. “How the horse actually puts the foot down may be partly due to the frog-feeling the ground (conditions) in regard to how it will land,” she says, a concept researchers are currently studying. Once people realize that, they understand the importance of the frog.” Coordinationīecause the horse’s heel has sensory nerve endings, the frog likely has a role with proprioception (a horse’s awareness of where his feet and body are), with sensitivity a bit like the nerves at the ends of our fingertips, says Rucker. “There are vital structures just beneath that bottom surface. “Then there’s the bursa and the navicular bone itself,” says Burns. It affects the whole body.” ProtectionĪ healthy frog helps shield the sensitive digital cushion (the soft tissue beneath the sole that separates the frog and heel bulb from the underlying tendons and bones) and the deep digital flexor tendon above it. Thus, a horse with a healthy frog won’t be stocking up as much, and the feet and legs are healthier. When the horse puts a foot down, this dissipates concussion and the blood squishes out of it with that impact and goes back up the leg. Tia Nelson, DVM, a farrier and veterinarian with Valley Veterinary Hospital, in Helena, Montana, explains: “From the knee and hock on down, a big part of what pushes the blood back up to the heart is the venous plexus right above the frog. The frog plays a major role in pushing blood up out of the hoof. ![]() When the foot lands on the ground, the elastic, blood-filled frog helps dissipate some of the force away from the bones and joints, says Amy Rucker, DVM, an ambulatory practitioner in Central Missouri who has a special interest in horses’ feet. “Without a good frog, in my opinion, the foot does not function well, and that is why we have so many foot problems.” Here are some of this structure’s roles: Shock absorptionīob Bowker, VMD, PhD, professor and head of the Equine Foot Laboratory at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, says the frog is vital for absorbing shock. In this article we’ll explain the frog’s many purposes and how to keep it-and, by extension, your horse’s hooves in their entirety-healthy. ![]() “Then the problem is self-exacerbating, and the unhealthy frog is prone to thrush and even canker,” two anaerobic (able to survive with little to no oxygen) bacterial diseases of the frog and surrounding tissues. “When the foot starts to have issues, frog health deteriorates,” he continues.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |