hoof crack repaired

[Donn Hewes]

I had a young mare go lame about three weeks ago. She went out to work fine and came in from baleing two or three wagon loads of hay and she was lame. My first thought was the ground was soft and they were puling little hard. The vet came out a few days later and said she had sprained a coffin joint. He thought a couple weeks off and a little bute and she would be back to work. We also discussed a pretty long crack in the toe of that hoof but he thought the coronary band was healthy and that crack wasn’t making her lame.

To make a long story shorter, a couple weeks later she is more lame than when it started. Now she is paddleing to just set down the heel of the foot first. Pretty obvious to watch and see the crack move when she puts the foot down. So I called a farrier. Something I haven’t done in many years. He cut out about a 1″ wide swathe of hoof wall (almost from the top to the bottom and right to the quick) to clean out dirt and junk that was behind this crack. Like digging out an abscess, except it was behind the hoof wall instead of under the sole. Finally he put two epoxy shoes on to hold the hoof together and allow time and space for it to regrow. There is a felt pad that fills the crack space and sticks out the top like a wick so I can put a little hoof dressing on it.

I wish I had taken a picture but I was too busy watching. By the time it is done a few months from now I will spend more than I paid for the horse. Any way, it is interesting and I will let you know how it heals.

[Donn Hewes]

Like most toe cracks this one had been a long time in the making. It has been there since I bought her and I have been trying to resolve it with constant attention to the trimming. I have tried to score across it to get some good hoof growing. I have tried to file off where her hoof wants to flare out on the side as this is what puts the pressure on the toe to crack in the first place. Anyway, that is how I got here. My new horse, lady, has been here a week and she is hard at work. She just got a brand new collar in the UPS truck today.

[Carl Russell]

Donn, sounds interesting. I have never had a toe crack get to that point, but have had a few that were up the entire foot, and filled with junk at ground level. I have found the only way to successfully eliminate them is with a shoe on. I hope it works out for you, feet problems can really get out of hand on such wet years.

Carl

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