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A new tool for farriers and vets has been born. It is a piece of
computer software called Metron.
It has been designed to provide assistance in caring for a horse’s
hooves and limbs. It uses photos and x-rays of the hoof and is defined
as a tool for measurement and communication. It allows precise measurement
of lengths and angles which can be imported on photos and x-rays,
thus giving a more accurate visual assessment. It is much more than
a drawing or photo-marking program since it enables the accurate
monitoring of the change in key parameters for a horse’s locomotion
such as the toe and heel angle, hoof wall P3 parallel alignment,
phalangeal alignment, height of heels, thickness of the sole, direction
of the coronary band etc.
In the hands of competent farriers and vets, it is a basic tool
to accurately set parameters for a situation and monitor their development
over time. It is also a tool to prevent lameness since it enables
a risk situation to be clearly seen well before the horse shows
the slightest sign of the problem in terms of its locomotion. It
is also a terrifically effective educational tool since it allows
us to check our work, especially in orthopedic farriery. We know
that our eye can sometimes let us down when examining limb conformation
and estimating a sometimes very slight difference that is very important
for the horse.
Metron allows us to archive the photos and x-rays of the foot in
a database. You can compare them with databases of other horses
(or of the same horse) according to breed, age, etc.
For five of the most important and common views of a horse’s foot,
Metron proposes a marking system that is easy to follow.
These are side, front and solar views of the foot, together with
lateral and dorsal x-rays (dorso-palmar). By developing a standard
system, Metron is encouraging communication between farrier and
vet colleagues, wherever they are throughout the world because the
program also includes a direct Internet access.
Furthermore, Metron allows you to import other images such as ultrasound
and thermograph images.
It is easy to use and you do not need to be a computer expert.
Digital or digitized photos using a scanner are increasingly common
and therefore should not pose any real barrier to this technological
progress that will benefit the horse and all of the horse world
(and particularly farriers and vets).
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