18/08/2025
I wanted to clarify the historic and current teaching that is supported in the literature and has been confirmed many times to be accurate and true.
The lamellae, very simply described are the superman “Velcro”or springs that attach the coffin bone (P3) to the inside of the hoof wall - the armour of the foot.
In the photo they are the red layer between bone and inner wall.
The dermal lamellae on the inner foot, feed the epidermal lamellae on the inside of the hoof capsule
The epidermal lamellae (think external skin- epidermis) will start just under the coronary groove and end at tge bottom of the hoof wall and at the bottom they form white line
The dermal lamellae- nutrition source) have a defined start and an end.
These lamellae are only present in the location of P3.
They do not appear on the middle phalanx (P2) the bone that forms a joint with P3. Look at the photo as its shows there are no lamellae there on the front of the bone
When the laminae fail in catastrophic laminitis, P3 plunges down due to the weight of the horse above and gravity.
As I understand- and please correct me if you know otherwise, If we are looking at reconnecting P3 to the inner hoof wall, after laminitis, we need to be looking at the right place. The place we should be looking at is new wall growth.
P3 needs to stop slinking and needs to stabilise. Then wall needs to grow and with it, new laminar connections.
I truly feel that we cannot be looking at “new wall and new connections” on X-rays when it’s actually on P2. There are no laminae on P2.
Look at the shape of the coronary groove and the top of P3. In this case the coronary groove is a nice “C” shape. When P3 drops it drags all the other tissues that are attached to it down with it. The papillae in the coronary groove are wrenched from the sockets in the coronary groove. In time, the coronary groove looses that “C” shape and becomes elongated, again, due to the dropping of P3.
