Question
Benson's Hoof
Hi Christine,
I recently acquired an 11 year old retired racehorse gelding, 16.2hh, with one BAD hoof.
The farrier has came out to see it last Saturday, and he said it was a fungal disease, and to keep it clean. So I did.
Today, however, it is MUCH worse, the missing part is still there, but it/s white going all the way up to the coronet. We are living in Ireland, and at the moment we have not found somewhere to board him that is nice, warm, and dry; so he's in a field. He's not lame yet, but he may be soon enough. This being said, he let me play with it, un-haltered and without anything holding him back from walking away from me, which I think is a good sign...
We ARE getting a vet out to see it, but I was just wondering how bad you thought it was, and what it may be.
Attached is a picture taken yesterday, before cleaning, and before it got worse.
AnswerHello Sarah,
yes, from what you describe, this does sound like while line disease. Depending on how how extensive the fungal invasion is in his hoof, just keeping it clean may not be enought. The germs that cause white line disease have invaded the hoof horn and the hoof needs to grow out completely before the disease is gone. The hole that is in your horse's hoof was the result of a previous farrier cutting away the infected hoof horn to get rid of the germs. Your farrier may have to do some more cutting away (this is called hoof wall resection) to get rid of the infection, however, he needs to be comfortable doing this! In recent studies it has been shown that cutting away the infected horn and exposing the area to light and air is more effective than all the chemical remedies that are supposed to help.
I am not sure, though, what you meant when you said that that the hoof was now WHITE going all the way up to the top...do you have a picture of that?
If you can, I would recommend that you have your farrier and your vet discuss this hoof together, come up witha joint strategy for removal of the infected horn and how to keep the hoof protected. I am not sure I have an answer as to "how bad" this case is...It all depends on how deep the infection is, whether it is already growing out or not and the exising hole is just a left-over, etc. Every horse reacts differently to these injuries. You just have to watch him carefully and keep your vet AND farrier working on it together!
Hope this was somewhat helpful!
Thanks much,
Christine
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