Ideas for packing holes in white line

[Scribbler]

Barefoot Maresy is prone to develop a bit of mechanical separation in her quarters especially in the summer if the hoof trim cycle is a bit long. It is not actual fungal/bacterial white line disease. But she gets a gap up the white line that then picks up pebbles and the pebbles enlarge it.

The real cure is to cut away the unattached outer hoof wall and let it grow out.

Right now she has a bit of this happening on the hind lateral quarters. I have rear hoof boots on order and when they arrive I will get a more aggressive trim on the outer walls. However at the moment I’m reluctant to do this in case she gets a bit tender behind. At the moment she is going sound on our trails.

So I’m left with thinking about packing something up the crevice that will repel pebbles, resist being scoured out by sand and gravel, and not form a hard lump that will itself act like a pebble.

I’ve been using oakum (hemp rope fibers lightly moistened with pine tar) and they seem to work and be in place after a ride. I was wondering if anyone had ideas for better products, either equestrian or otherwise?

[SolarFlare]

What about something like this? It’s actually described as being easy to pack and stays in place: https://www.lifedatalabs.com/life-data-hoof-clay

I haven’t had any white line issues to use it on myself, but I received a free jar when I went to an expo, and have used it to pack a dry abscess hole (after it’s done draining).

Also, I think you’re in Canada - would you mind sharing your source of oakum? I was talking to my farrier about it, as he used to use it quite often in the past but has been having trouble finding a source here in Ontario.

[SusanO]

I was having something like that with my mare. My farrier suggested some blue stuff called “BeGone”. I was very skeptical - it is copper sulfate and another common ingredient. She tends to get a longer toe so we stepped up out trimming cycle to 4 to 5 weeks. And damn - they went away! I don’t know if it was the trim cycle or that stuff but it worked! It comes in a tube and squirts up in the hollow area. I did it daily then a few times a week as the spaces trimmed out. I was not expecting it to work. I had to order it from a farrier supply store since I did not see it advertised anywhere else.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

You can melt a bit of Keratex hoof putty to pack up in there. Great stuff. Maybe some Hoof Armor would help as well.

[Scribbler]

@SolarFlare

What about something like this? It’s actually described as being easy to pack and stays in place: https://www.lifedatalabs.com/life-data-hoof-clay

I haven’t had any white line issues to use it on myself, but I received a free jar when I went to an expo, and have used it to pack a dry abscess hole (after it’s done draining).

Also, I think you’re in Canada - would you mind sharing your source of oakum? I was talking to my farrier about it, as he used to use it quite often in the past but has been having trouble finding a source here in Ontario.

Ah, I got a little bit of oakum from my trimmer years ago and I haven’t gone looking for more. I didn’t know it was getting scarce!

[Scribbler]

@BoyleHeightsKid

You can melt a bit of Keratex hoof putty to pack up in there. Great stuff. Maybe some Hoof Armor would help as well.

I saw some of the hoof putty today, looks like the right consistency! I will try to get some.

[rubygirl1968]

I can’t get the hoof putty to stay in. The life data clay works great though.

[kashmere]

Red Horse products, for sure! Hoof Stuff or Artimud, depending on how tight the holes/ cracks are. This stuff works miracles.

[Scribbler]

I was thinking that anything clay based would dry up too hard, would soften up on wet ground, and allow pebbles to get stuck in it? Has anyone used the clay based formulas specifically for white line gaps? The gaps are currently narrow, the oakum seems to be staying put.

[candyappy]

Maybe the best ( and easiest) thing is a more frequent trim in the months that her hooves grow best?

[Scribbler]

@candyappy

Maybe the best ( and easiest) thing is a more frequent trim in the months that her hooves grow best?

Absolutely. But this snuck up on us. I think there were some old abscess tracts that got scoured out by the sandy gravel. She never appeared actively lame from abscesses but I think they date from her winter in pasture.

The best thing as I said upthread is to get the compromised hoof wall resected so the hoof grows out strong. However as I said, I’m hesitant to do this until the rear hoof boots that I’ve ordered arrive in a week or two. I don’t want her going ouchy behind on our trails. So I’m wanting to pack the crevices temporarily until I get the rear boots and can have a more aggressive trim.

We are having a very wet summer so far.

I went through this about 5 or 6 years ago with her front feet, absolutely more regular trims keep it in check.

[kande04]

I see that often enough, and when I do just take the rasp and rasp it off, because stress cracks in the wall tell me that the wall is too long (or wide) there. If the cracks are deep I’ll take off as much as I can and then do a little more every few days. Never have soaked or packed or treated with anything other than the rasp or nippers, but if I did then I might think that the other treatments were part of the solution.

Good plan though, to wait until the boots arrive, just in case.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@Scribbler

Absolutely. But this snuck up on us. I think there were some old abscess tracts that got scoured out by the sandy gravel. She never appeared actively lame from abscesses but I think they date from her winter in pasture.

The best thing as I said upthread is to get the compromised hoof wall resected so the hoof grows out strong. However as I said, I’m hesitant to do this until the rear hoof boots that I’ve ordered arrive in a week or two. I don’t want her going ouchy behind on our trails. So I’m wanting to pack the crevices temporarily until I get the rear boots and can have a more aggressive trim.

We are having a very wet summer so far.

I went through this about 5 or 6 years ago with her front feet, absolutely more regular trims keep it in check.

Maybe instead of resecting try soaking the foot in some Oxine (activated with citric acid MUCH cheaper than using cleantrax or white lightening) a couple times a week, pack and let it grow out. I’ve had a lot of success doing this with white line separation along with a shorter trim cycle. Supplementing additional copper and zinc also helped strengthen the laminar connection to keep it from happening again.

[Scribbler]

@BoyleHeightsKid

Maybe instead of resecting try soaking the foot in some Oxine (activated with citric acid MUCH cheaper than using cleantrax or white lightening) a couple times a week, pack and let it grow out. I’ve had a lot of success doing this with white line separation along with a shorter trim cycle. Supplementing additional copper and zinc also helped strengthen the laminar connection to keep it from happening again.

Yes, that’s the treatment for white line disease.

Maresy doesn’t actually have WLD. This is mechanical separation. It happened about 5 years ago too, and I had our vet who is also a trained farrier consult on the problem. There was no WLD, the problem stems from missing a trim cycle.

That time 5 years ago, the vet picked up her feet and cut back a scary amount of outside wall! It grew out perfectly. My farrier trimmer had been afraid to be that aggressive with the trim until she saw how well it worked

This last winter Maresy spent three months on pasture with high iron well water, then came back to rather wet field board at a boarding barn for 6 months (city water low iron) before finally coming home to her nice dry stall and fairly dry
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹paddock/ runout. She got trimmed after she came back to field board, and I started up her vitamin mineral supplement again. It has OK levels of copper and zinc, but not the therapeutic levels recommended for IR or laminitis.

The mechanical separation snuck up on us. She had no issues on her hinds on the first trim after she came off pasture. Her feet looked great. On her most recent trim she had a crevice on one hind and old abscess tracts on the other. After a week those old tracts had also worn into a crevice. She never showed clear abscess symptoms at any time but I think the wet winter fields did her no favors. She needed to be out all winter for my personal life issues and all in all she looks fabulous but she wasn’t getting quite as much detailed care as she does in her home barn.

[rubygirl1968]

@Scribbler

I was thinking that anything clay based would dry up too hard, would soften up on wet ground, and allow pebbles to get stuck in it? Has anyone used the clay based formulas specifically for white line gaps? The gaps are currently narrow, the oakum seems to be staying put.

I used the life data hoof clay in the narrow gaps. It stayed in quite well and pebbles didn’t get stuck in it any more than in the gap itself.

I picked it out of the gaps and refilled as needed. It was much easier to work with than the hoof putty. That never stayed in my horses hooves for more than five minutes.

[Scribbler]

@rubygirl1968

I used the life data hoof clay in the narrow gaps. It stayed in quite well and pebbles didn’t get stuck in it any more than in the gap itself.

I picked it out of the gaps and refilled as needed. It was much easier to work with than the hoof putty. That never stayed in my horses hooves for more than five minutes.

Ok good to know! At the moment the oakum is staying put.

One reason I didn’t catch this earlier was that the cracks packed up with wet clay from the field and couldn’t be seen until she got a good trim. Maybe clay is the answer.

[tabula_rashah]

I use Magic Cushion for a similar reason. Its extremely sticky

[rubygirl1968]

@tabula rashah

I use Magic Cushion for a similar reason. Its extremely sticky

The last time I used Magic Cushion I somehow got some in my hair and couldn’t get it out for anything. I wound up cutting it out. Never thought about using it for the cracks but goodness knows it should stay put! :lol:

[Dani]

Check out DE Hoof Taps. Recently started using one with a client’s mare that has a toe crack we’ve been battling since Oct. Noticeable difference in this last 4 week cycle, crack didn’t widen any more and I was able to trim most of it out. Your trimmer/farrier should be able to put it in easily, there are several good videos out there and all you need is a hoof knife and a hammer. These little things are meant to go in cracks and separation to help stabilize and draw out bacteria. They’re zinc coated to help kill all the nasties that can cause these defects not to grow out properly.

[frisky]

My vet recommends cleaning out the hole, pouring betadine in and packing with cotton. Of course you’d need to do this regularly/daily.