Hoof Wall Separation

[TimB]

One of our mares (in the 10 year old range) has recently developed what looks to be a separation within her hoof wall – it isn’t the white line, rather the internal and external portion of the hoof appear to have separated. It is happening on the outside quarters of both of her front feet. From above, each hoof looks well trimmed, sound and with no cracks/flares. From underneath, the feet look good too, except for this separation. The feet look symmetrically trimmed and seem fine aside from this issue. She is sound, not lame nor sensitive to it at this point. But I want to nip this problem before it becomes a real one.

I’m wondering if her hooves may have been damaged by some of the thaw/frost cycles that left really sharp and hard frozen mud in their sacrifice paddock? She is on the heavy side, but she certainly isn’t over-fed (she’s real thrifty?). Perhaps some nutritional issue?

So far, I’ve knifed down the inner section of the hoof wall to the level of the sole, and I’ve kept the external section of the hoof wall trimmed close to level with the sole as well. My thought was to take some of the pressure off of it so as to not encourage any further separation. I’ve been pretty conservative with this, since I’m not sure of what’s best. We also pick our horses’ feet daily, so we’re always keeping it clean and removing anything that might get in it (rocks, dirt, manure).

Has anyone seen this issue or heard about it? Any advice or resources that I might look to?

Thank you.

[CanoeTomah]

Hi Tim,
I would want a farrier’s input.
The below site has been a good resource.
If you can post pictures to the site you will get some responses.
There is a Farrier’s helping Horse owner section.

http://www.horseshoes.com/forum.html.

[Jonathan Shively]

Kind of like it is being pulled? Striations between the two? Could have been from a fever, she might have experienced a slight case of founder. This is all speculation, this is an area that then is prone to picking up gravel. Have a vet or competent farrier check and decide correct course of action.

[TimB]

Thanks for the responses. I’ll try to get a picture posted.

In the meantime, I got some feedback from a farrier friend, and a couple of other friends who trim their horses. The “from a distance” consensus was that it’s probably a hoof wall that was left too long and wide and had some mechanical stress. To that end, I dropped the wall down and brought it in by angling and rolling the edge. I also tried to balance the foot better in general…

She’s still walking fine after the trim. I’ll keep an eye on her and those feet and let you know. And, like I said, if I can borrow someone’s iphone, I’ll try to get a picture posted.

Thanks again for the suggestions. If any other ideas come up, I’d love to hear them.

[Author]

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