My farrier just told me my horse has WLD and that I should treat it daily with coppertox. Does anyone have any other suggestions or recommendations for treating WLD or is coppertox the best choice? My only concern is that I’ve heard coppertox can also destroy healthy tissue.
You should be doing white lightning treatment. Did they do any resection?
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I’ve had good success with the White Lightning soak (not the gel). It needs to be wrapped up exactly how the directions state, because it’s the gas emitted that combats the white line, not the liquid.
I know others have had success with Clean Trax.
I personally wouldn’t waste my time with Coppertox.
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I wouldn’t waste my time with coppertox either, it’s very “out of style” in terms of safety and efficacy.
White Lighting or Clean Trax (is that back in stock?) are better choices. And yes, follow the instructions for preparing and using, these aren’t just “stick a foot in a bucket” soaks 
Did he say how deep/high he suspects it is? Did he cut away any portion of hoof wall to expose infection to air?
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CleanTrax has worked well for me but according to recent COTH posts this year the manufacturer has discontinued the product.
There is a product named Clean-It which appears to be the equivalent, but don’t take my word for it and do the research before you act.
CleanTrax when mixed with water produced oxychlorsene which is a topical antiseptic. They also sold a high soaking boot which they said produced pressure with the column of product liquid to “drive” the antiseptic into the hoof.
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Thank you! No, he didn’t do any resection. This was his first time shoeing my one horse (he’s been shoeing my other horse for a couple of years), and at first, he thought the split was cosmetic. But after he finished, he said it was definitely white line and that it’s pretty high up.
I’m not sure if I can find any CleanTrax—I’ve heard really good things about it—but I know my local feed store has White Lightning, so I’ll be picking that up later today.
I’ve never soaked a hoof with any white line disease treatment before. Is there anything important I should know before doing it? Also, after I treat it, how do I prevent it from coming back? Should I be treating his feet weekly or monthly with anything as a preventative, or is it enough to just pick out his feet regularly and keep his stall and hooves clean and dry?
Follow the White Lightning soaking instructions You might do a soak 2-3 times the first week, then 1-2 the next couple of weeks
Did your farrier give any insight into why this happened? Here’s a good article on the usual causes. Sometimes, it just happens - they step on a little rock which makes a hole and bacteria enters, so preventing it isn’t really something you can do. Most causes are things that can be prevented though
https://www.epauk.org/about-equine-podiatry/articles/white-line-disease/?doing_wp_cron=1749055679.8967919349670410156250
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Clean Trax is now available through Easy Care now as Clean It! I was so excited to track it down and get it back in where I work. I stand behind the product 110% for white line disease and other hoof crud.
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Looks like from the above referenced equine podiatry outline that CleanTrax (or Clean-It) should be the initial treatment, followed up afterwards with White Lightning to reduce risk of reinfection until the cracks grow out.
My vet and farrier both indicated to me that I should use CleanTrax as a once-and-done treatment and neither ever mentioned followup White Lightning or any other chemicals. My farrier kept the involved areas of outer hoof wall opened up to solid hoof structure so it would be exposed to air and would dry out more efficiently, however.
I liked the once-and done approach a lot after having to tend to the high CleanTrax soaking boot to treat both front hooves, one after the other. I’d not look forward to doing that multiple times. Ninety minutes of soaking is a looong time to keep the horse still.
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I don’t know that any comparison of treatment efficacy between CleanTrax/Clean-It and White Lightning have been done (if so I’d love to see it!).
I also don’t think that all cases of WL can be resolved with a single soak of either product, though I’m sure probably most, if not all, milder cases could.
It seems there are too many variables, from how deep and widespread the infection is (which is unknown here since the farrier didn’t pare anything), to the environment the horse lives on.
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Thanks for all the replies! I picked up some white lighting and plan on trying it today. My other horse also has WLD and I was planning on treating her with the same, but she has shoes. Will it not be effective or be less effective with shoes on?
What’s going on that both your horses have WLD? The one pic shows pretty regularly spaced stress/even lines, and while the pic isn’t the best to see it, this may be due to toes that are chronically just a little long, which alone can be the catalyst.
So if the underlying issue is the trim, you need a new trimmer/farrier. If it’s a management issue (too much mud/manure/urine compromising the foot) that should be a consideration as well
Instructions for WL
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If it’s (in his words) pretty high up, wonder if he should do a resection and then do the soaks. I would also maybe get a hoof x-ray too. My guy came off the track with WL and he had a resection done. I did soaks with White Lightning (kept him bf) and things grew out fairly quickly.
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