Do Metal Shoes Contract Heels?-A Retrospective Study on 114 Horses.
Abstract: Heel contraction is an undesired but common condition in domestic horses. Some authors indicate shoeing as a risk factor. There is a correlation between shoeing and a restriction of heel expansion, but the clinical significance is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of shoeing and other risk factors, such as age, access to paddock, and breed, on heel contraction. This study included 114 horses, 55 of which were barefoot their whole life and 59 had been shod consistently for at least the previous year. The width and length of the frog were measured. Linear mixed-effects models were performed for the width:length ratio, where the fixed effects were age, sex, breed, pasture or paddock time, shoeing and its duration, and limb. The random effects included the horse and the yard. Although heel contraction occurs more often in shod horses compared with barefoot horses, the difference between the two conditions was not statistically significant, when other factors were considered. The most important factors that impacted contraction were individual horse features and breed (P < .001). The effect of age and a yard was noticed (P < 0,5). The sex, paddock time, and the shoeing and its duration were found not to have statistical significance. The study concluded that heel contraction is multifactorial problem, mainly caused by breed and unknown features correlated with individual. It was not confirmed that horseshoeing causes heel contraction. Because of significant difference in incidence of contraction between yards, there is a need to further investigation of environmental factors causing this hoof distortion.
Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2020-10-16 PubMed ID: 33276918DOI: 10.1016/j.jevs.2020.103293Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research paper titled “Do Metal Shoes Contract Heels?-A Retrospective Study on 114 Horses” investigates if horseshoeing and other factors like age, breed, and paddock time contribute to heel contraction in horses. It concludes that individual horse features, the breed, and factors not yet identified are the primary causes of the issue, rather than horseshoeing.
Methodology and Sample
- The study encompassed a sample of 114 horses which were split into two groups: barefoot horses (55) and horses that had been shod consistently for at least a year (59).
- Both the width and length of the frog (the soft part of a horse’s hoof) were measured to evaluate heel contraction.
- A statistical approach called linear mixed-effects models were used for the width-to-length ratio to evaluate the influence of various factors such as age, sex, breed, paddock time, and duration of shoeing.
Study Findings
- Although heel contraction appears to be more prevalent in shod horses compared to barefoot horses, the difference was not found to be statistically significant when other factors were incorporated.
- The most influential factors inducing heel contraction were identified as being tied to individual horse features and breed.
- The age of the horse and the yard in which it was housed also showed an influence on heel contraction.
- However, factors such as sex, time spent in the paddock, and the presence and duration of shoeing didn’t demonstrate any statistical significance.
Conclusion
- The study concluded that heel contraction is a multifactorial issue, primarily caused by the breed, individual characteristics of the horse, and unexplained factors.
- Contrary to some popular beliefs, it was not confirmed that horseshoeing causes heel contraction.
- The researchers observed a significant difference in the incidence of heel contraction across different yards, which suggests further research is necessary to investigate the role of environmental factors in causing this hoof distortion.
Cite This Article
APA
Senderska-Płonowska M, Zielińska P, Żak A, Stefaniak T.
(2020).
Do Metal Shoes Contract Heels?-A Retrospective Study on 114 Horses.
J Equine Vet Sci, 95, 103293.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2020.103293 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Immunology, Pathophysiology and Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland. Electronic address: magdalena.senderska@upwr.edu.pl.
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
- Department of Immunology, Pathophysiology and Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
- Department of Immunology, Pathophysiology and Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Forelimb
- Heel
- Hoof and Claw
- Horses
- Retrospective Studies
- Shoes
Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Mieszkowska M, Adamiak Z, Holak P, Głodek J, Jastrzębska E, Wolińska K, Mieszkowski M. The Effect of Horse Shoeing with Egg Bar Shoes and Shoes with Wedge Pads on the Results of Thermal Imaging of the Equine Distal Limb.. Animals (Basel) 2021 May 21;11(6).
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