Mike not only works with horses with laminitis but he is among the top in his field working with show and performance horses. He puts the horses feet where they are supposed to be and takes extra care to make sure they are just exactly what you would expect for your show and performance horses.
If you would like to contact him with any questions you can reach him at 405 627 0457.
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Columbia Encyclopedia entry: What exactly is laminitis?
Laminitis (lăm′ənī'tĭs), also called founder, is inflammation of the lamina, the innermost layer of the hoof wall in horses, ponies, and donkeys.
Although the condition usually affects only the front feet, it may involve all four feet. Both acute and chronic forms can occur.
The laminae become inflamed because of congestion of blood and accumulation of toxins in the hoof region resulting from any of several causes, e.g., consumption of large quantities of grain; ingestion of large amounts of cold water by overheated horses; concussion during fast, hard road work; and toxemia following pneumonia or infection of the uterus.
The signs of acute laminitis appear rapidly and include sweating, a rise in temperature to as high as 106°F (62°C), a pounding pulse in the digital artery to the involved hoof, an expression of anxiety, and a stance with the legs forward of their natural position so as to reduce the pain of weight bearing.
Chronic laminitis is characterized by a shifting or rotation of the bone and other anatomical distortions in the hoof. The disease is treated by eliminating the causative factors, administering drugs for the acute form, and trimming hooves and fitting corrective horseshoes for the chronic form.
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There really is hope for your foundered horse!
I would like to introduce a remarkable man to those of you who visit my web site. His name is Dr. Mike Steward DVM.
I will not spend a lot of time on my story, but a little background is necessary for full impact of the significance of Dr. Steward to be realized.
I have a nine year old mare (her barn name is Star) that has had the misfortune to have been foundered as a young filly. At the time we bought her as a weanling, we were unaware of the ongoing condition, but noticed she was lame the day after we purchased her. That is a whole story in itself but during the next several years we took the mare to the best vets we could find, used the best farrier we could find and literally did everything that is humanly possible to help this wonderful mare. She has lived a life of pain and suffering in spite of all we have done. We tried the farrier’s version of the wooden shoe I had heard about but it did not help much and usually ended up with abscesses within a few days, resulting in the removal of the shoes.
After eight long and very difficult years of this we were seriously considering having Star put out of her misery as she was getting to the point where she was hardly able to walk.
We had changed our farrier just recently to a young man by the name of Mike Langhof. He so impressed my husband and I in his ability to make our show horses feet look exactly as they should, that we allowed him convince us to take Star to Dr. Steward. I started checking into Dr. Steward after Mike first told me about him and I found that Dr. Steward is not only the expert in the field of foundered horses, he is a world renowned speaker and lecturer on foundered horses. He actually made the prototype of the so called Dutch Shoe that is becoming so popular.
Now for the exciting part!
My husband I and took Star to see Dr. Steward, meeting Mike there to do the work according to what Dr. Steward found. Within 2 hours Dr. Steward and Mike had Star all fixed up in a pair of Dutch shoes and we literally walked her to the trailer with very little pulling! She was still experiencing some discomfort, but she was 100 times better than when we arrived.
For the first time in many years, I actually felt Star was going to be OK!
Dr. Steward was amazing. He did radiographs and then worked at leveling Star to the perfect angle for her. He said he listens to what the horse tells him and then he does his work. Together the team of my vet, Dr. Steward and my farrier, Mike Langhof, put my mare Star on the fast road to recovery.
Today she literally trotted across the yard!
It is my hope and my dream that all who read this will find a way to bring their foundered horse to Dr. Steward. He knows what he is doing, he does it well and he does it with his heart! I think that the two of them, working together, can fix any foot problem, any laminitis problem that any horse can have. That is saying a whole lot, but I just have to look at my now, walking mare, Star and I know if she can be helped after all these years, so can most any horse out there.
I fully expect that Star will someday soon be running and playing with our other horses, just as she is supposed to do. I truly believe that Dr. Steward is an angel and I have to thank Mike for pushing me in that direction. They are what I call the real "dream team."
I am working at putting more and more information about foundered horses in this location. It will only happen as Dr. Steward has the time to participate with me and give us bits and pieces of his wisdom.
As I write this, he is speaking in Florida, along with some the worlds most renowned Veterinarians and Farriers about laminitis and how it can be treated.
The articles I have here now are articles that I have collected on founder as I believe it is such a devastating disease to hit our beloved partners.
I welcome your input and would love to hear your success stores to give others hope for their beautiful and majestic friends.
Dr. Steward is in Shawnee, Oklahoma (405) 275-0990
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