Distal limb immersion in ice and water is the most effective means of cooling the equine hoof lamellae under clinically relevant conditions.

The research study concludes that immersing a horse’s lower limb in ice and water is the most effective method in cooling the zones of the hoof in clinically relevant settings.

Objective and Methodology of the Study

• The objective of this study was to examine the correlation between the hoof surface (HS), hoof wall (HW), and lamellar tissue (LAM) temperature when cooling the distal limb in horses and to evaluate four different cooling methods over extended periods.
• Eight healthy horses from a university were utilized for this experiment.
• The temperature was measured for a period of four hours at three different points on the horse’s hoof – lamellar tissue (LAM), hoof surface (HS) and hoof wall (HW).
• The four cooling methods evaluated include an ice sleeve (SLEEVE), an ice pack system (ICEPACK), low volume ice water immersion (LV-IMMERSION), and high volume ice water immersion (HV-IMMERSION).
• A mathematical model was used to establish the relationship between HW, HS, and LAM which was instrumental in developing a method-specific correction factor to predict LAM based on HW.
• Following this, the hoof wall temperature was measured over an additional four hours with the horse free in a stall. During this phase, the LAM temperature was predicted using the HW temperature.

Results

• The HV-IMMERSION and LV-IMMERSION methods significantly decreased LAM temperature over four hours, whereas the ICEPACK and SLEEVE methods did not.
• HV-IMMERSION caused a significant decrease in the estimated LAM temperature (-20.4 °C) in comparison to the control temperature (32.7 °C).
• Similarly, the LV-IMMERSION also resulted in a notable reduction in the estimated LAM temperature (-14.9 °C).
• On the other hand, ICEPACK and SLEEVE did not show a statistically significant decrease in the estimated LAM temperatures.
• The estimated lamellar tissue temperature using the hoof wall temperature showed a strong correlation (0.93) and concordance (ρc = 0.93 [0.93 to 0.94]) with the actual measured LAM temperature.

Conclusion

• The HV-IMMERSION and LV-IMMERSION were found to be more effective than the ICEPACK and SLEEVE methods for cooling the lamellar tissue in a horse’s hoof.
• The study concluded that the most effective way to cool the digital lamellae under clinically relevant conditions is through immersion of the distal limb in ice and water.