This cow had white line pathology on both claws. She was grade 2 lame in the left hind with the inside claw being more painful than the outside claw. As you can see I have taken a wedge out off the hh using my hoof cutter. The intention was to try and get only the healthy part of the outside claw weight bearing. This resulted in the affected areas of white line on both claws being off the ground and therefore non weight bearing. It seemed to work with the cow returning to the herd after a week.
I saw this cow this morning. I thought she was a grade 3-4 lameness in the right hind. Sole ulcers were present on both claws. The outside claw's sole ulcer was more advanced and very painful to only finger pressure and the primary cause of the lameness. The inside claw had a minor pain response. Despite this I still put a hh on the inside claw to allow the outside claw to be completely non weight bearing. I have found the 'forgiveness' of the rubber ( aka the nike effect ) has allowed me to do this in the past with good results. This cow exited the race with a marked improvement in her gait and was weight bearing almost normally on the affected leg after a short period of adjustment. Overall a good result.
This cow has just had a hh put on as a result of a classic white line issue. As you can see she has adjusted really quickly to the hh and walking normally as soon as she is released. hhs' are made of dense rubber and are firm enough to hold their shape when weight bearing ensuring effective ground clearance. But they also 'give' a little which I think makes them overall more comfortable to the cow. I call it the Nike effect lol.
