The retracted foot subject came up in Dec issue AFJ. Interesting and might have one for definite on my book. This is an excerpt from the following publication The Project Gutenberg EBook of Special Report on Diseases of the Horse, by United States Department of Agriculture and Leonard Pearson and Rush Shippen Huidekoper and Ch. B. Michener and W. H. Harbaugh a free copy available thru www.gutenberg.org of the 1916 publication - SPECIAL REPORT ON DISEASES OF THE HORSE. BY Drs. PEARSON, MICHENER, LAW, HARBAUGH, TRUMBOWER, LIAUTARD, HOLCOMBE, HUIDEKOPER, MOHLER, EICHHORN, HALL, AND ADAMS. PAGE 453 Pumiced sole, from simple exudation and separation of tissues, is of little importance for the reason given above in connection with bruises; but when suppuration occurs in restricted portions of the foot in conjunction with laminitis, it always lays bare the tissues beneath and temporarily impairs the animal's value. Recovery takes place after a few weeks by the tissues "horning over," as in injuries attended by the same process. Depression of the coffin bone is not sufficient within itself to cause pumiced sole; for, if the relative change in the bone takes place slowly, or if the horn is thin, the sole becomes convex from gradual pressure and the soft tissues adapt themselves to the change without having their function materially impaired. But when the dropping is sudden and the soft tissues are destroyed, the horn rapidly crumbles away and the toe of the bone comes through. In many of these cases the soft tissues remain uncovered for months. When they are eventually covered it is with a thin, slightly adherent horn that stands but little or no wear. The sole being now convex, the diseased tissues bear unusual weight by coming in contact with the ground, and hence it is that these animals are generally incurable cripples. In most cases in which the sole is raised to meet the pedal bone and pumiced sole occurs it is due not to pressure of the bone from within (for the tissues are capable of adapting themselves to the gradual change) but to impaired vitality of the sensitive tissues from the inflammation and to the constant concussion and pressure applied from without during progression. To this is to be added the paring[Pg 453] away of the horn when applying the shoe, thereby keeping the sole at this point too thin. It's old school stuff but is it retracted soles they may be referring to?. It's a fascinating read with some great looking shoe pictures. Paddy Falvey CF
tr.v. pum·iced, pum·ic·ing, pum·ic·es To clean, polish, or smooth with pumice. They could have picked a better verb.
I guess 12 vets getting together to write this one up had to make some compromises - word wise. Pumice must have been thrown in by somebody as a apt description. But they go from convex to concave in 2 or 3 sentences, but it kind of finishes up with something like retracted, maybe?. Oh well.
Paddy, many doctors are educated beyond their level of intelligence. Centuries ago the farrier and the veterinarian were one and the same individual practicing the craft. Over time the profession split into two separate realms. The masters of the craft of the healing arts became farriers. The drug pushers and book worms became veterinarians.
Here's a link to an article by Esco Buff regarding his take on retracted soles. http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/hoof-love-not-war/my-horse-has-retracted-soles It doesn't sound as though Esco's definition is the equivalent of what is described as a 'Pumiced sole"
I find it amusing that the soils horses live on where I see this phenomenon are very much lacking in pumice content.
