Which hoof condition can be caused by poor nutritional practices?

Laminitis is a painful and inflammatory condition that affects the sensitive laminae within the hoof. One of the primary causes of laminitis is poor nutritional practices, particularly diets that are high in sugar and starch. These diets can lead to an overload of carbohydrates that provoke metabolic disturbances, ultimately resulting in laminitis.

When horses consume excess sugars, the body can struggle to metabolize these effectively, leading to an increase in insulin levels, which can cause the laminae to become inflamed. This inflammation can compromise the structural integrity of the hoof and can cause significant pain and lameness in the horse.

While other conditions like thrush, white line disease, and navicular syndrome also have their own risk factors, they are not directly caused by poor nutritional practices to the same extent as laminitis. Thrush is often a result of poor hoof hygiene rather than diet, white line disease is associated with mechanical factors and hoof integrity, and navicular syndrome involves the navicular bone and soft tissues of the hoof, with contributing factors that are often more biomechanical than nutritional. Thus, the link between laminitis and nutrition is well-established, making it the correct answer.