Dr. O’Grady is internationally known for his expertise in the horses foot care whether it is a strictly blacksmith problem or a medical problem.  He started off the meeting with a good general background of how the horse should be trimmed or shod.  With this basic understanding he then spoke about the disease of laminitis or founder.  He went through the causes that we know, the dynamics of how it occurs in the horses foot, and how your veterinarian and farrier can work together to help your equine friend.  As he stated we do not have all the answers for why and how this problem occurs but we are much closer today than 10 years ago.  He also went through the new shoeing procedures for these cases and how proper shoeing aids in the recovery of the horse.  His last topic was on Navicular syndrome.  As he first stated in his presentation, it is no longer considered navicular disease or navicular syndrome.  With the aid of MRI veterinarians have found that the horse may be experiencing more of a soft tissue problem such as a deep digital tendonitis or a tear of the impar ligament from the coffin bone.  All of the above problems were are now clumping into the diagnosis of caudal hoof disease or syndrome.  He expressed that a definitive diagnosis would be recommended in order to properly treat the horse either medically or in shoeing.

Dr. John Peloso is a surgeon and owner of Equine Medical Center of Ocala.  He spoke on the topics of MRI and it use in diagnosing heel and foot problems in the horse.  His MRI is a standing unit that only requires light sedation for the horse to be scanned.  He showed examples of the MRI pictures and related them to anatomical pictures of the hoof.  His second talk reflected on surgical procedures that may help your equine friend with foot problems recover better or faster.  He and Dr. O’Grady worked together in this presentation to provide other alternatives than what your local veterinarian can provide.  It is always good to have other options when it comes to giving comfort to your horse.  

Thank you to our sponsors, Pfizer Animal Health for sponsoring lunch, Adequan, Seminole Feed, and Vet Stem. 

Next years seminar will be September 10, 2011 at SeaWorld of Orlando and the topic will be Colic.  Hope to see you all there.