Podiatry

Podiatry 

Podiatry starts with a lecture that will attempt to expose the student to the following concepts: Anatomy of the equine hoof, biomechanics of the equine hoof and how these biomechanics affect leg biomechanics, how leg biomechanics affect the hoof, some concepts of shoeing and when it is rational to consider shoeing a horse. Because the goal of the animal chiropractor is to allow the animal to heal, rather than to simply decrease the presence of a symptom, there are situations where the idea of shoeing is unreasonable. At the completion of this course students will have gained an insight into the function of the single toed ungulate hoof biomechanics and gain an appreciation for the immense importance of the hoof in these animals. The second part of the course is designed to cover the ideas about which trimming and shoeing help domestic animals approximate the evolutionary hoof they were designed to use to support their size and allow them to move swiftly. In this lecture, different abnormal elements of equine hoof growth will be explored, and we will discuss the environmental influences that shaped those feet to be the way they are. We will compare some hoof changes to the way in which they came about and how they relate to other hoof distortions seen in horses. We will also discuss extensively the neurobiomechanics that are unique to the equine hoof and how that shapes the animal’s life.