Hoof Care Provider/ Farrier Services

Amount of laminae in quarters and toe

Denys Antonenko • Nov 21, 2022

Here you see the difference in the amount of lamina in the quarters compared to the amount in the toe. In this specific foot, there’s significantly much more lamina in the toe (27 laminae per centimeter) compared with the quarters (16 laminae per centimeter).

Question is: why?! Is it a perfusion issue? The way the horse walks? The trim? Terrain?


Dr. Robert Bowker raised the same question and had a few theories about this but this still remains a mystery to some extent. 


My thoughts:

Since the horse is designed to move and bear an extreme amount of weight on the hooves, they need to withstand all of that stress. When horses hooves break over, the last point of contact with the ground is usually the toe, the horse pushes off the ground with the toe, thus that part of the hoof needs a larger amount of lamina for protection and durability. In addition to that, the wall in that area is much thicker than in the quarters. This, in my opinion, does not mean that the toe is the main weight bearing structure, rather the extra laminae in the toe help the hoof not to fall apart. 


What are your thoughts on this? Why is there more lamina in the toe than the quarters? 


Denys A. 

Images in link below

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One Minute Discussions #66 Discussing Natural Hoof & Horse Care LEAVE OR REMOVE THE LAMELLAR WEDGE? The lamellar wedge is the adaptation of the hoof to internal problems. And although it’s a sign of inflammation, it may still serve a purpose during rehab. It’s still responsible for “glueing together” the wall and sole, but that “glue” is not as strong as it’s supposed to be. So how do we address it in the trim. Everything depends on the horses comfort level and the condition of the lamellar wedge. It won’t be a wise decision to totally remove the lamellar wedge if it is soggy, weak and not fully keratinized. But in a lot of cases it is safe to remove most, if not all of it, if the lamellar wedge is keratinized, dry and sturdy (especially if we’re putting the horse in therapy boots). In some cases it is a good idea to trim the bottom, flared growth evenly with the well connected top growth in order to reduce leverage on the lamina as much as we can. Denys Antonenko

What causes lamina separation?

By Denys Antonenko • 21 Apr, 2023
One Minute Discussions #65 Discussing Natural Hoof & Horse Care WHAT CAUSES LAMINA SEPARATION Yesterday on my group I posted a question… what causes lamina separation? And although we’re used to hearing the most common things that separate the lamina, such as poor diet, metabolic problems, excessive toe leverage, etc, we don’t often hear about the less common things that can lead to a path of lamina failure without us noticing it. You’ve heard me say it many times before that lamina failure is not a result of just one thing. There’s always multiple factors contributing to the problem. As an example, bacterial and fungal infections weaken the foot, and that can result in lamina separation. Mental and physical stress can increase hormone levels which may result in poor hoof health. Many different problems happening elsewhere in the horses body (skin issues, allergies, dental problems) can be a factor that leads to a weak lamina. Denys Antonenko
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