Quarter Crack ugh

[the_sandiest_shoes]

Discovered a quarter crack on the horse I’m leasing today. Very annoyed at myself that I only noticed it after my ride, argh (I picked his feet before the ride but just didn’t see it until I was brushing off the dirt/cleaning the feet again post-ride). I don’t know how long it’s been there but I can’t think it’s been there that long - I generally brush off the walls of his hooves regularly when I pick the feet.

He’s 20 and he has had some severe feet problems in the past, but not quarter cracks to my knowledge (the way his hooves grow, the coffin bones are somewhat sinking apparently - he’s being managed by very creative and expensive farrier work). The vet said (based on his other feet problems) that his problems “are being managed but not cured”. He wasn’t lame/didn’t feel weird during my ride today. Told the trainer and they’re going to look into it - she was also really dismayed to hear about it/when she saw the pic and confirmed it’s a quarter crack, which of course worried me more.

Basically, I want to know generally what to expect. I haven’t seen a quarter crack before and only remember from pony club way back in the day that they are bad news. Given the horse’s history, I’m trying not to freak out that this is something career ending for him (we do dressage for reference - he’s a former GP horse and now a schoolmaster that I was hoping to compete PSG next year). I know that it very well could be though. I was trying to do some research on how long they are off for something like this, but nothing gave me a solid answer.

Can anyone tell me what is typical for the healing process? I want to say the crack is mild, since there’s no lameness, but I don’t know for sure. It’s about 1.5 inches down from the coronary band. Poor old man. I’m really sad for him. Thank you.

Edited to add - no one (vet, farrier, trainer, etc.) has referred to his prior hoof problems as founder or laminitis, just a bad growth pattern. It could be a variation of laminitis for all I know, but I wanted to clarify that I’m not aware of the horse actually having ever foundered in case that matters. He’s been sore/off before, but never dead lame from the hooves.

[iris2006]

I had a warmblood mare who would get a new quarter crack every other year or so. I would get the farrier out ASAP and he would do things to hold it back together slightly, so the crack wouldn’t travel further down her hoof, or get wider. I think I would rest her for about 2 months, until it had healed at the top and farrier gave me the OK. She would come back sound after it healed.

The crack would always come back in the same place, so I finally smartened up and tried some preventative care, and regularly massaged the problem area above the crack area on the coronet with hoof cream to keep it moist and get the blood flowing. It felt like there was a lumpy spot there on the coronet, like there was a little defect there that caused the cracks. I think that helped her from getting anymore cracks after I started doing this, but I was not riding her as much or has hard anymore by then due to her bad heaves, so not sure if it really helped, but it can’t hurt.

I’m still a big fan of keeping my horses’ soft hoof bulb and coronet band area on the moist side and massaging them there. And I keep them on hoof supplements even though my farrier tells me to stop because their hooves grow too fast.

[Edre]

The severity of a crack is largely determined by the depth. Some of them are very superficial, and can lead to some flaring or chipping of the hoof but not actually impede soundness. I’ve seen this most on barefoot horses whose feet are due a trim or that are having a super hard spell on their feet (bad flies, uncharacteristically hard ground), or horses that are shod and have overgrown the shoe. The more critical cracks are always the ones that are deeper. Some cracks can be stabilized via shoeing options to help them grow out and remain a nonissue, but others may require the use of more expansive work (lacing, patching, resectioning/patching combo, etc) to help grow out properly.

Unfortunately all anyone without eyes on the horse will be able to tell you is that it’s highly variant and very individual - the leg, hoof, and crack in question are all going to feed into if it’s “not such a big deal” to “this is very bad and will require long term work/rehab”.

From the cases I’ve witnessed a good vet/farrier team can both diagnose it (severity) and then work together on plans for management, rehabilitation, and future prevention.

[CanteringCarrot]

I’ve been in quarter crack hell for, I don’t know, quite awhile now. It got a bit serious as they’ve bled before. First there was one on the left front, then when that was nearly grown out, one appaeared on the right front. There hasn’t been any lameness aside from a few inconsistent head bobs at the trot in the beginning when on hard ground.

We’ve done various types of shoeing, x-rays, vet and farrier collaborations, and at one point the vet said “I have no clue” his x-rays and everything looked perfect balance and angle wise. He even consulted several other vets/farriers. So frustrating!

The answer for this horse has been a special bar shoe (with added support across the center) and pour in pads. His left crack is gone, and the right has almost an inch of normal growth above it.

I do have him on a “healthy hoof” diet and apply topical products too. Things are finally getting better. I think the pads were really beneficial.

He’s been mostly worked the whole time. There have been bouts where I spent a few weeks at the walk (like when there was blood - only once - each hoof). I only rode him on good softer footing for awhile. I gave him rest and began hand walking at first.

He’s now back in action and we’re even riding in a clinic (he’s a dressage horse) this weekend. The crack is growing out as of now, but it has been incredibly frustrating!

There absolutely needs to be a good vet and farrier involved. If this horse has known “changes” in his hoof, it is probably time to x-ray again and see what’s going on in there. Sometimes (usually) the cause of a quarter crack is quite obvious from the outside. Are there sheared heels? Long toes? A raise in the coronary band where the crack is? Can you draw a line from the top of the crack to the floor - goes the end of that line touch the floor behind the shoe?

There’s an imbalance that needs to be taken care of basically. I’d only do a short walk (for circulation purposes) until a proper assessment is done. He may need some rest, he may not. Some horses can continue to work. Just have to get the hoof in the right “set-up” and ease him back into work. I think rest is ideal, but especially with these “older” horses some movement is good for them to help with stiffness or other issues. So it’s a difficult balance.

I really wish you the best of luck! It is one heck of a headache!

[Sansena]

Cantering Carrot gave some great advice on how to proceed.

But I’ll ask the $100,000,000 question: How many quarter cracks is your farrier treating? If he’s got several, and they all appeared after he started working those horses, it’s time for a new farrier. So many vets and farriers don’t actually understand the engineering being what makes a balanced hoof. Oftentimes, a fresh set of eyes does wonders.