The American public received a good lesson in the frustration of dealing with laminitis this week, as injured racehorse Barbaro experienced a flare-up of discomfort in his foundered foot. The episode began less than a week after a foot cast was applied by Rood and Riddle veterinarian Scott Morrison to stabilize the foot.

Surgeon Dean Richardson clarified today that the horse’s problem is the sub-quality hoof growth, not the cast itself, in an interview with Dan Gelston.

“The medial aspect of the hoof was always going to be a problem because of the way it was healing,” Richardson told Gelston, whose stories are distributed worldwide by the Associated Press (AP). “The cast did not cause this problem. This issue with the foot was probably inevitable.”

Photo caption: Dr. Scott Morrison tends to a low-rise hoof cast on Thoroughbred mare Banjolene at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital. Photo courtesy of Dr. Morrison; ? Hoofcare & Lameness Journal