MP Hoofclamp

Introduction  and application.

The MP Hoof clip

The new and easy to use device for the treatment of hoof cracks.

A hoof crack is defined as a split of the hoof wall in direction of the horn tubuli.

The two main categories of cracks include those starting at the bearing surface of the wall and extending to a variable distance up the hoof wall, or cracks originating at the coronary band, as the result of a defect in the band, and extended downward.

Concussion of the hoof on hard ground during trot and gallop are a common cause of cracks. They especially occur when the weight of the horse is not equally distributed at the bearing surface. Poor confirmation of the limbs can be one reason. Weak retracted walls of the hoof, contracted heels, hooves, deformed by chronic laminitis, excessive dry horn, are factors, often resulting in cracks. Additionally coronet injuries or sprains and strains of the hoof can cause cracks. Improper trimming and shoeing are also common reasons.

Quarter and heel cracks are usually the most severe because they often involve the sensitive laminae. These cracks are usually infected. Inside the narrow crack the sensitive laminae are repeatedly bruised. Painful inflammation of the sensitive laminae is a consequence of hoof cracks.

To eliminate pain and in consequence lameness, the split in the wall has to cut out in its entire length. Horn has to be removed until healthy laminar corium appears. If the crack extends from the coronary to the bearing surface, the defect in the hoof wall caused by the therapy is considerable and must be stabilised.

Stabilising the defect by wire sutures is complicated. Channels have to be drilled in the hoof wall. In order to give enough hold for the wire the drilled holes should be of sufficient length and depth. To prevent the drill from breaking or even the pedal bone from being hurt, the hoof has to be held absolutely motionless. With out tranquillisation or even general anaesthesia, this could only be achieved in very few cases. When the suture wire is inserted into the holes it usually kinks making the task of equal tension almost impossible..

Treating hoof cracks with wire sutures or fibreglass patches is difficult to use on a routine basis. It is almost always executed in veterinary hospitals.

Neither the wire suture nor the crack pads are protecting the horn defect against pressure forces that narrow the sides of the cut out crack. But these are the forces leading to continuous contusions of the sensitive laminae.

In contrast, the hoof clip, developed by the dental technician Manfred Puhl based on the ideas of his brother the farrier Michael Puhl, can be applied easily and effectively so that calm horses can have their cracks treated by a farrier or a vet at home in their stables. To enable the treatment of infected and thus very painful cracks, a block of the digital nerve performed by the vet may be necessary. This is the most effective way to turn the hoof insensitive to pain. This type of pain eradication is well known from personal experience at the dentist’s.

At home a horse rarely needs to be tranquillised to allow safe treatment of cracks.

The application of the Hoof Clip is demonstrated in treating a quarter crack of a dressage horse weighing about 1500Ib. The crack extended from the coronary band to the bearing surface.

 For several weeks the horse has had a quarter crack. The owner observed no lameness. Treatment so far has included enlarging the crack with the knife and lowering the horn wall of the heels. An egg bar shoe is applied.

 Despite the therapy the crack has extended to the sensitive laminae. Bleeding occurred and the horse shows marked lameness in its right forelimb when trotting on a hard surface (clearly visible nodding of the head in each phase of motion).

At the examination with the hoof tester the horse showed signs of severe pain on both sides of the crack. The crack was evidently infected. The upper 3cm were clearly more sensitive, than the lower ones. Because of the month long pressure a clearly visible and perceptible impression has appeared in the horn-producing region.

The crack has to be cut out with the hoof knife. A motorised burr like the Dremel drill can be used to undermine the crack. All parts of the horn, showing visible changes have to removed. In doing so, you have to cut directly down over the sensitive laminae, but never into the sensitive tissue. The u-shaped channel should be 10-12mm wide. To take away pressure on the damaged spot of the coronary band, approximately 10mm of crescent shaped horn wall is removed directly underneath the coronary band on both sides of the crack. Again you have to cut down to the white horn directly above the sensitive laminae.

   To stabilise the weakened horn capsule, the horn defect is then bridged with the clip. The clip consists of two plates, it is 10mm wide and 40mm long and is made of a steel alloy showing high resistance to all kind of mechanical forces. The plate is bent to form an approximately 3mm deep depression that is situated in a 75-degree angle to the rest of the plate.

The two plates of the clip are connected with a setscrew.

 For the adjustment of the clip you have to take the Dremel drill to cut a 12mm long and 4mm deep slot parallel to the crack you have previously cut out. The optimal hold of the clip is achieved when the slot is milled slightly towards the split corresponding to the clips angle. The clip is inserted into the crack and wound with the setscrew until the resistance increases.

A slight narrowing of the crack becomes visible. The two slots that have been sawn into the horn wall should be filled with Locktite 406. In order to achieve enough hold, the attachment points of the clips should be situated at least 5mm away from the edge of the horn defect and 20-25mm away from the coronary band. The slots are situated parallel to the horn tubuli. Thus the horn capsule is only minimally weakened. Then the crack is filled with artificial horn. If the sensitive laminae are showing any signs of injury or infection, they should never be covered with artificial horn. In those cases the injury should be protected with a hoof bandage for a week.

 Only after dry, healthy cicatrix horn has developed; artificial horn can be applied. The spacious cutting out of the vertical fissure that has been demonstrated in this method, is often rejected by many horse owners, but also by farriers and vets. Apparently the horn capsule is weakened more by the removal of additional material than by the fissure itself. But in the original, very narrow split the horn capsule moves in a way that leads to painful bruises of the hoof corium. Delicate voids with or without reduced air supply develop in the narrow fissure. These semiaerobe conditions offer a perfect environment for certain pus agents and putrefiers. As a consequence the hoof horn decomposes further and the connection between the corium and the horn tubuli will be lost aside the split.

The continuous bruising at the fracture point prevents the development of healthy horn wall material.

It must be the therapy’s aim to take away the pressure from those parts of the sensitive laminae that already show damage.

Pressure has to be taken away especially from the damaged part of the horn producing coronary band. A lasting success of the therapy can only be achieved if healthy horn can grow again at the rupture point beginning at the coronary groove. The crescent –shaped removal of hoof horn at the coronary groove extends the pressure points that originate from the deformation of the horn capsule to other areas of the coronary band that are not yet affected. The radical removal of rotten hoof horn and the free access of oxygen destroys the living environment of the purifiers. A spreading of the oxygen evasive putrifiers under the laminar corium is prevented by spaciously cutting out the split. The infection of hoof corium that often occurs with cracks, can better be tackled with a sharp knife than with the disinfectants that are favoured by many horse owners. To enable proper working, restless horses should be tranquillised In case of painful changes a local anaesthesia to eradicate the pain can become necessary.

 The vertical split shown here has grown out after seven months and has not reappeared since. Meanwhile more than 1,000 clips have been used for the treatment of cracks by farriers and veterinary hospitals after only a few applications, the adjustment time of the clips reduced to approximately 10minutes only.

Applying the clip is very easy and does not up as much time as wiring. For big horses or for cracks in the toe region, you can use two clips. The clip’s attachment surface on the horn wall is much larger than that of wire. Thus the tension in the hoof wall is distributed on a larger surface, and there is no danger of the hoof horn tearing out. Tension on the clip can be adjusted easier and more accurately than wire and produces higher and better stability.

 Handy tip #1.

When fixing the hoof clip , a rectangular notch has to be milled into the horn wall in the area of the screwing mechanism. This notch allows the hoof clip to be pressed tightly onto the horn wall.

TFP Has this item in stock now plus the Dremel saw attachment and Locktite 406 adhesive

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