White Line Separation

[Yann]

I have a pony on loan from our yard owner who suffers from chronic laminitis, though touch wood with careful management and lots of work she's been pretty much fine this year. I was present at her shoeing the other day and noticed she had bad white line separation on her front hooves. The farrier indicated that it came with the territory and little could be done about it, and he also suggested that there was little risk of secondary infection, presumably with her being shod. She's usually out 24/7.

Any thoughts on this? Going barefoot is not an option for us at this point as she is too footsore and needs lots of work now to help her stay well. He did agree it would be a good idea to take the shoes off again once we have to give her up and if another rider isn't found for her short term. Would the state of her feet make this problematic?

[laurah]

This is such crap!!! Sorry but your farrier does not seem to be educated in whiteline separation!! Did the farrier seal the separation so no dirt can get in or exactly how do the shoes prevent infection?

Bit shocked!

Whiteline separation is a serious problem and can lead to lameness and should, therefore, certainly not be ignored. It can work its way up into the hoof very quickly and cause abscessing.
It should be treated with a fungicide until it grows out which it should do very rapidly if your farrier knows what he is doing.

Separation at the toe after laminitis is a sign of founder that is how serious this is and should it continue then your horse is at peril of laminitis and further founder (downward rotation of the pedal bone)! At the sides it is a sign of flare and not enough trimming (4 to 6 week intervals are very important). If this is not getting better then you need to find someone who can trim correctly. The hoof needs to be allowed to grow down and reconnect with the Pedal bone, this will happen if the horse is on the correct diet and very regular correct trimming.

Barefoot is always an option the new easyboot epics are great and can also be padded if required, padding needs to be experimented with but it is only temporary anyway. Shoes never do any horse any favors, there really are options out there. Do not write off barefoot because your horse is foot sore without shoes. This indicates he has some very real issues which are simply being covered up by the shoe and not allowed to recover. Photograph your horse's sole without shoes so you have a record of his recovery and not deterioration.

Hope this helps, do not let him get worse there is support out there.

[rust]

soak regularly with clean trax & borax! it will not be as effectve as if you were bare foot but cant hurt.
Use borax as a scrub as well

[wendyihts]

Yann, there's a really good book on Founder by Jaime Jackson. It's good primarily because it addresses a lot of the lifestyle issues concerning chronic founder. Also, have you seen the Founder pages on barefoothorse.com? I point them out not in the wish to convince you of "going barefoot" with this pony but because they explain the mechanisms of what happens to foundered feet and about rehabilitation trimming and management.

[touchstone]

Hi Yann, I too have a horse who is suffering from white line separation.
Your farrier is correct in that it is due to laminitis, but it can be rectified with correct trimming, so it need not be 'part of the course' for a horse who has suffered from laminitis left with a permanent legacy of white line separation.
Pete Ramey has developed a technique he calls the white line strategy where he removes most of the wall back to the sole in order to reduce the stress from flaring. I have used it on my horse, although the first time I found she was more sensitive and so on following trims I left a little more wall, just ensuring that the flare was removed right back. It has made a significant difference and the white line is no longer as stretched and dirty as it was. It will take many months of regular trimming to eliminate the problem though, and even then it will need the trim maintaining if separation is not to occur.
I understand your concerns about your pony becoming footsore, it is a big commitment to take. I have found though that my horse is quite capable of doing 12 mile hacks over all terrains in comfort. It takes a lot of work and perseverance though and the horse must be kept as comfortable as possible; there is no excuse for creating pain, but with correct management I think you would be surprised at just how quickly they can recover from being footsore. Hope this helps, best wishes.

[Yann]

Thanks for your replies, and the links which have been very informative and made some things clearer to me.

The farrier seems to be applying a trim very much like the Pete Ramey one, lowering the heels and attacking the flare on the front quite aggressively - I was concerned that he had more or less gone through the hoof wall at the toe, but this appears to be the right thing. The pony certainly seems sound and happy anyway.

I do appreciate the value of barefoot, but unfortunately there isn't time for this pony to go through the barefoot process with us, she's rapidly becoming outgrown (though she doesn't know it of course ) and it will certainly be our last summer with her. I can't deny my daughter or the pony a few more months of doing what they love best, which is charging carefree round the countryside together.

If and when she's not being ridden any more her shoes will come off and we'll see what we can do. I'd agree that it would appear that the situation can be helped after all

[plusrider]

Some great advice above, your horse need not be at all footsore without shoes if you use boots and a correct trim. Although this is of course your choice and if you feel it is not for you then that is ok too.
But may I add I lost a beautiful horse who had horrific white line separation, she ended up with osteomylitis (sp) (infection in the bone) this may well have been caused by the white line separation, we will never know, but you can't ever take white line separation lightly. She was 4 and her pedal bone had all but dissolved.

No hoof no horse!

[lucyloo]

I'd treat with Borax too. You can order it in from your local boots.

[roo]

Yann I would definately soak with clean trax. You can buy it online. We had wld in Smartie when he came to us but two lots of soaking and occasional treatment with equine elite's white line relief gel has got it sorted. He is barefoot. www.saddleuptack.com supplies the gel to the UK and I think they do the clean trax (we get ours through our KC la Pierre trimmer)

[Yann]

Thanks, will look into it - she has a habit of standing in buckets so it shouldn't be a big problem. Could you clear something up for me though? Does the Cleantrax / Borax just stop infection getting in or does it actually retard or prevent the separation process?

[touchstone]

Hi Yann, as I understand it the borax/cleantrax will kill the fungus/bacteria which eat away at the white line causing it to deteriorate; so it will prevent any infection, but it won't stop a white line stretching if it hasn't been trimmed correctly as it is the stretching which allows the infection to enter anyway, so it needs to be a combination of both things to attack it properly.
That's how I understand it anyway, hope that makes sense. Glad to hear your pony is happy and sound

[Yann]

Thanks for that. The trim appears correct, the toe has been taken right back so presumably there's very little strain on the white line area there. She's certainly well and has just passed her 6 monthly physio / back check with top marks

[roo]

Clean trax doesnt kill healthy tissue but borax does I believe. Clean Trax just gets rid of the infection and then the hoof will heal back up.