Evaluation using hoof wall strain gauges of a therapeutic shoe and a hoof cast with a heel wedge as potential supportive therapy for horses with laminitis.

Summary

# Editorial Summary Hansen and colleagues used strain gauge technology to quantify how two common supportive devices redistribute forces through the hoof wall during loading, addressing a long-standing clinical question about their biomechanical efficacy in laminitis management. Loading cadaver limbs to 2500 N (equivalent to weight-bearing forces), they measured longitudinal compression in the dorsal hoof wall under three conditions: unshod, fitted with a therapeutic shoe featuring an unsupported toe, and fitted with a heel-wedge cast. The therapeutic shoe reduced dorsal wall strain by 23%, whilst the hoof cast achieved substantially greater unloading at 59% reduction—though this came at the cost of a 34% strain increase on the lateral wall. These findings suggest that hoof casts with heel wedges offer superior protection to acutely inflamed dorsal structures when distal palmar tissues retain load-bearing capacity, whereas therapeutic shoes provide more balanced force redistribution suitable for rehabilitation and the regrowth phase of laminitis recovery without concentrating stress elsewhere. For practitioners selecting between these interventions, the choice should reflect both the acute versus chronic nature of the case and the functional integrity of palmar structures.

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Key Findings

• •Vertical loading of unshod hooves produces high longitudinal compression of the dorsal wall (−1515 μm/m)
• •Therapeutic shoe with unsupported toe decreased dorsal wall principal strain by 23%
• •Hoof cast with heel elevation decreased dorsal wall principal strain by 59%
• •Hoof cast increased lateral wall strain by 34%, while therapeutic shoe left it unchanged

Conditions Studied