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NOVEMBER 2003 WISHING STAR RESULTS ISSUE |
CONTENTS Another
Successful Year - Wishing Star Gallop 2003
UPCOMING
ISSUES |
Baseline Foot X-Rays After something goes wrong with your horse's feet, you and your farrier or veterinarian may seek clarification from X-Ray technology. For treatment purposes, X-Rays provide harmless images that did not exist before. They may help indicate what is wrong, so you can fix it. But what if your horse is sound all around and nothing is wrong with its feet? Should you X-Ray anyway, as standard preventative maintenance, before something goes wrong? I recently noticed a trend back East for vets and farriers to join together in reliance upon X-Ray tools for preventative maintenance, and I wondered if this risk-reliance issue was as popular in the Spokane vicinity, so I got on the phone and conducted a private survey study to gauge the potential for professional agreement.
Results indicate that a vet around Spokane might be twice as likely as a farrier to favor X-Rays of a sound horse's foot as a baseline. However, 2 of 3 vets and 8 of 10 farriers were not in favor of the scientific procedure. You might suspect there is as much tension among farriers as local competition suggests and as much antagonism between vets and farriers as uncertain judgement might permit. However, my survey study revealed more intelligent resource than tension or antagonism. The vets are a little X-Ray happier than owners or farriers given their higher knowledge, ownership, and control of the technology. The farriers are among the few and last independent, laboring business professionals who rely principally on visual and tactile artistry while remaining semi- free from outside interference, especially government regulation. So there was response bias to the question from both professions. Elevation in tone came from farriers because the question implys that technology, to which they have little controllable access, threatens to compromise their judgement. Their job is to keep your horses' feet functional. They want owner reliance. The survey question wasn't meant to be rhetorical, but one vet told me: "There is no such thing as a sound horse." Another said: "A horse can be sound but not correct." Many vets compensated their "No" answers by mentioning soundness. Any risk to it and their answer would change to "Yes." Vets elaborated upon the necessity of judging soundness to include correctness by gauging the foot for balance and symmetry, measuring the hoof for right growth and health, observing the horse's "way of going" and its athleticism, examining feet and legs for conformation and irregularity, referring to breeding history, and testing the limbs for pain. One vet insisted the question was unanswerable, yet the higher the designated use for the horse the greater the tendency toward "Yes." The survey question definitely hit a risk reliance issue most vets had discussed and analysed. I could tell some clinics had formulated a policy from answers like: "As a practice at present we do not X-Ray the sound horse." or "Not as a focal point on the well horse." One vet said: "X-Rays are not the best tool to examine the foot for farrier applications." No vet brought up the potentially damaging effects of repetetive X-Rays to the feet, so when I asked for comment, one said: "The feet aren't close enough to reproductive cellular tissue to make X-Rays a concern." Another said there should be no fear of damage to the horse caused by foot X-Rays. A common concern among the vets I talked to stressed that the quality required for proper evaluation might mean multiple X-Rays for a baseline. This could run into costs of hundreds of dollars. The decision to use X-Rays as a tool of comparative measurement for the evaluation of farrier applications could amount to an expensive part of any preventative maintence plan. Technology is more of a supplement than a substitute for savy management. Most farriers would only recommend X-Rays if injury or disease was suspected. They were better as a diagnostic tool than as a baseline preventative tool. One farrier said, in special cases of irregular hairline in the otherwise sound horse, X-Rays might be a good idea for reference. Some said the younger the horse the more likely X-Rays could reference for corrective treatment. Farriers were concerned that many variables revealed by X-Rays might not necessarily be attributible to the farrier application. X-Rays have a limited effectiveness as a diagnostic tool and might be confused with the intelligence of the farrier. "You can't tell everything with an X-Ray." One farrier agreed with the vet who said only multiple X-Rays would assure quality, and added that it would take repeated X-Rays to fairly and consistently apply the science. Farriers are educated and instructed in principles to determine pain or hoof deformation, but it is sometimes difficult to gauge the degree of lameness. X-Rays can help that determination as a cost additive, corrective tool. As a reference tool, they "would be cost prohibitive." The consistent comments about economics were typified by the farrier who simply said: "No. It's a waste of money." A milder comment was: "It would be great information to know, but it is a luxury to have an X-Ray machine." Plenty of farriers mentioned an artistry versus science predicament. One said: "X-Rays are not needed if the horse is healthy, but if you suspect something is wrong and can get no indication of what it is, even with hoof testers, X-Rays may be needed. But this causes monetary problems for the horse owner." Owners rely on the artistry of farriers to get enough information about the sound horse's structure, range of motion, and proper functionality. However, one farrier answered: "Yes, to keep everyone straight and honest." His answer seemed consistent with farrier preference for continued, minimal government regulation. My conversations with these professionals convinced me that any horse owner who researches the market hereabouts will easily find a vet-farrier combination well suited to fit their needs. I fully appreciate the cooperation of these busy vets and farriers. Their comments were revealing and instructive. I conclude from the survey study that the potential for professional agreement on baseline foot X-Rays of the sound horse's feet is high. Favor is more likely when soundness is at risk or when intended use intensifies; and less likely when cost drives reliance on the farrier's artistry. Contrary to trends in the Eastern U.S., baseline X-Rays are not popular with a majority of vets and farriers in the Spokane vicinity.
Fasten the gate, Bob Howdy, PhD |
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