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Discussion on Research Study: Hoof response to regular periods of trotting
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 - 7:41 am:
This was a rather surprising finding: mild exercise had no significant effect on hoof growth of horses over a 17 week period, at least within the measurable parameters in this study. Since the feet were imaged my MRI they were looking pretty closely.
DrO
Am J Vet Res. 2009 Nov;70(11):1354-64.
Changes in growth of the hoof wall and hoof morphology in response to regular periods of trotting exercise in Standardbreds.
Faramarzi B, Thomason JJ, Sears WC.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Objective-To quantitate changes in hoof wall growth and hoof morphology induced by mild exercise in Standardbreds. Animals-18 Standardbreds. Procedures-Horses were exercised at approximately 6 m/s (4,200 to 5,600 m/d) on 4 d/wk for 17 weeks. Both exercise (n = 9) and nonexercise (control group; 9) groups were housed in a large paddock throughout the study. At the beginning and end of the study, right forelimb feet of all horses were digitally photographed and underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Hoof wall measurements were obtained from the images to evaluate hoof wall growth and morphometric variables. Data were compared between the groups and within each group via a quadratic model. Changes in each variable and pairwise correlations between variables were evaluated. Results-Morphometric variables did not significantly differ between the control and exercise groups. However, differences within each group between the start and the end of the study were significant for several variables; overall, values for hoof wall variables increased and those for solar variables decreased. Between the beginning and the end of the study, the amount of variation in values of hoof capsule variables in the exercise group decreased to a greater extent, compared with control group findings. Patterns of pairwise correlations for variables differed between the groups. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-In Standardbreds, mild exercise for 17 weeks caused no significant changes in hoof wall growth or morphometric variables. Subtle changes may develop in equine hooves in response to loading, and mild exercise may not be a strong adaptive stimulus.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 - 7:59 am:
DrO,
I see that as a big whoopy do do. Is the study saying hoof concavity increased, or toe callous, or wall thickness? Were the horses shod or barefoot?
What does Morphometric mean?
Maybe I am missing something being I don't understand some of the terms.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 - 8:29 am:
LMAO Angie! "big whoopy do do"! Is that a scientific term?
It would be interesting to know if the horses were barefoot or shod. I assume barefoot, but the article doesn't state if that is so.
Wonder if the study would have yielded significant difference in hoof growth if the horses had been stalled rather than in a large paddock where they were able to move around?
Hmmm.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 - 9:04 am:
Vicki,
Thanks for laughing, I didn't have any caffeine yet, and little sleep so I came back on to apologize for that first sentence! Everyone please disregard my non-scientific comment, lol!
I am putting a note on the computer: No posting online until I have at least one cup of coffee, and/or 8 hours of sleep!!
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Member:
mrgood
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 - 10:57 am:
My own research has shown that the hoof mechanism is completely depending on how much weight that is carried by the frog and a little frog pressure is no better than non at all. The frog needs to be heavily loaded for the pumping mechanism to reach maximum efficiency. Without knowing in what condition the frogs were and to what extent they were loaded I'm afraid we can not draw any conclusions from such a study.
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Member:
rtrotter
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 - 8:42 pm:
What are they considering mild exercise? What does 6 m/s ( 4200-5600 m/d)mean? I'd also like to know if these horses were barefoot or shod ( as Vicki asked)?
And what kind of surface were they exercising on?
Rachelle
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Member:
lynnland
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 - 7:48 am:
Hi Gang,
If any of you have access to a university library database you should be able to find the complete article. I will put a sticky note on my computer for next time I am at one but normally limit my visits to once every few months (which results in some pretty long and ugly article search sessions to catch up). The full article will have all the answers.
Angie, morphometric measurements are measurements of the size and shape of something. And I do believe that I may have used something similar to the term "whoopy do do" myself after too many days in a field camp and too little chocolate!
Lynn
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 - 7:54 am:
All good questions and I will get a complete copy so that we can answer them. But the conclusions, within the confines of this study (AJVR is a peer reviewed journal that is one of the most respected veterinary research journals in the world) are comparing two very comparable groups of horses one receiving light forced exercise and one not and using very sensitive techniques did not find significant differences in hoof growth. This is one of the first scientific looks at a long held horsemen's notion and finding surprising results. A long standing notion we often incorporate into explaining problems and creating treatment plans to improve hoof health. Ignore it at your own horse IQ peril.
DrO
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Member:
gramsey1
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 - 8:52 am:
Will you be posting the article? Or are there copy right concerns? I don't understand how "differences within each group between the start and the end of the study were significant for several variables" could also result in a finding of "mild exercise for 17 weeks caused no significant changes in hoof wall growth or morphometric variables".
What cause the changes from start to end? Why would there be significant changes in the control group?
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Member:
maggienm
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 - 4:51 pm:
Guy, I was wondering that also.
Dr. O, Is the long standing notion that exercise increases hoof density?
It seems to be saying mild exercise causes small changes. ??
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Member:
stek
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 - 6:50 pm:
I am also confused by the verbiage of the results and conclusions.
Rachelle I'm guessing 6 m/s is the rate of speed (13.42 miles per hour) and 4,200 to 5,600 m/d is the distance (2.6-3.47 miles per day) ?
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Member:
rtrotter
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 - 8:17 pm:
All,
I can understand why the results could come up with no significant changes. If they were using a normal bell curve (standard deviation) and allowed +/- 5% and most or all the horses fell within those parameters, then there would not be enough evidenciary support to confirm their hypothesis. Assuming their hypothesis was that movement increased hoof growth ( wall and solar).
It does not mean there were no changes at all, just that there was not enough change to warrant support for what they thought would happen.
And here I just told someone that statistics and I did not get along well. .
I'd also be curious to know what the breeding was on the horses they used in the study, some standardbred breeding lines are more prone to different problems and that may have effected the studies results.
Rachelle
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