Is this white line?

Question

is this white line  
is this white line   QUESTION: Last spring my mares hooves (fronts more than hinds) started to split and fall apart. My shoer had to reset her shoes every three weeks as her hooves just kept falling away. She had white line separation and was then treated for laminitis by my veterinarian.
x ray showed no rotation of the coffin bone
Should this decaying hoof wall be pared out in order for her feet to heal?
I have forwarded pictures of her feet at the time. Although they look healthier now, she is still lame, with white line separation and crumbly black hoof wall at the toe and quarters.

ANSWER: Hi Theresa,

Most likely this is not White Line Disease. WLD is generally not associated with lameness or a crumbly hoof wall. I think it is more likely that this is related to the laminitis. Laminitis can become chronic and be a problem for the life of the horse. Even though there was no sign of rotation with the first X-rays it is possible that rotation has occurred since. It is also possible that there has been a displacement of the whole hoof wall. This would not show up as a rotation but has a similar affect. It is not uncommon for horses that have had laminitis to be lame or sensitive consistently. It can also be recurring.

If I were working on this horse I would like to remove all the hoof wall that is not attached. If not done properly you won't get good new hoof. If done too aggressively you can get into sensitive laminae and cause more problems.

I would recommend that your veterinarian and farrier have extensive experience working with horses that have laminitis. Treatment needs to be consistent so the vet and farrier should talk about the direction of treatment.

I have some questions. What caused the laminitis? How did the vet treat it? What do you feed the horse? How much does the horse weigh? How do you use the horse? Is this the first time the horse was treated for laminitis?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply. In answer to your questions, we do not know what caused the laminitis, apart from her hooves falling apart approx eight weeks prior, she was sound and I was still riding her and then one morning she came in all crippled up and could barely walk.
As far as I am aware the horse had never foundered prior to this.
My vet treated her with medication which was given daily and she was put on a dry lot. No changes were made with her shoeing.
She seemed to be sound this winter and I was riding her on a regular basis.
She currently gets fed timothy hay, beet pulp with her vitamins and pasture tun out during the day.
She weighs 1200LBS and was used as a team roping horse.
Yesterday my farrier reset her and pared away as much bad hoof wall as he felt comfortable doing. She could hardly put any weight on her left front after he shod her and is still extremely sore today. She is  scheduled for x rays this coming Monday.
Her feet fell apart eight weeks before she foundered (when these pictures were taken I was still riding her and she was sound) which is why I asked the question about the white line. This decaying hoof was never cut away and I wonder if the infection got so bad that it caused the laminitis??
Please note that I have an excellent farrier, it was unfortunate that for health reasons he was not shoeing for us at the time this happened.
I will let you know the out come of the x rays and thank you once again for your time.

Answer
There is one thing that stands out in your answers to my questions. The horse's diet. Talk to your vet first but I would be feeding a grass hay and have the horse on a dry lot. I don't know where you are but, in the southeast where I am, spring grass can cause laminitis. She sounds like a big girl. You might look at a website on body condition scores. This would help you know if diet is really an issue. Since she is not working I would cut back on her rations as a mater of course.

Hope this helps.