i have a horse battling white line disease and im curious about the reapplication of the Life Data Hoof Clay.
hoof wall was resected by farrier, same day i scrubbed hooves, used Clean-It hoof soak and then applied the clay to the compromised areas.
when it comes to reapplying the clay, is it recommended to gently remove left over clay, re-clean the area, and then reapply? or just reapply over the existing clay?
google only is giving me information about the cadence of reapplication and not about logistics.
I know nothing about this in particular. But when my mare’s front hooves were resected due to mechanical separation in the quarters, I didn’t put anything on them. It sounds like you don’t need to continue an antiseptic, that just being open to the air will now knock out the WLD? So you are giving a bit of protection and hopefully hardening? Does the clay have tea tree oil in it?
The times my mare got pasture vacation in a lush clay soil pasture her feet were amazing because she had a constant pack of clean clay. It kept manure out of her frogs
My best guess is you don’t want to use water regularly on the compromised resectioned hooves because you don’t want to soften them. But you also want to make sure that the clay is not being contaminated by per or manure or organics. And you don’t necessarily want the compromised areas being sealed up tight like a wound because WLD is an anaerobic organism, hence the need to resection.
Does Life Data Clay harden after application? I have dabbled in various clays, so can’t remember which is which.
If it hardens you could wait until it has started to disintegrate of it’s own accord, then brush off with a stiff dry brush and reapply. I expect that wear time will vary a lot by footing and behavior.
whether or not it was intentional, thank you for laying out every step of my mental argument I’ve been having for the past couple of days
you’re correct - i’m wanting to provide protection to the compromised areas. it is antimicrobial with tea tree oil, yucca extract and iodine.
yes yes and yes. want to ensure the area is clean/stays clean, but don’t want to seal air tight because it needs the air. similarly, i don’t want to unnecessarily irritate the area by trying to remove the clay if it’s unnecessary.
and then of course want to minimize moisture because (1) the nature of the ailment and (2) want to limit opportunities for the clay to harbor additional yuckies.
i believe it does harden, so maybe when it starts crumbling off, take that as a sign to do a hoof wash anyways and then reapply on the clean hooves…
thank you - this was actually a really validating and helpful response!
So when I do this, I remove the clay daily and clean thoroughly with 4x4s and antiseptic. Then dry and reapply new clay if I’m using it.
Moisture is not necessarily an enemy on its own. Constant moisture isn’t good and water is a great way to carry pathogens into the opening… but a brief clean out with some damp 4x4s with antiseptic isn’t going to weaken the hooves or worsen anything.
Plus a little bit of antiseptic scrub is a better way to get the old clay out than something like a wire brush, which would be to the healing tissue.
to the healing tissue.