Could someone please help me understand the earliest signs of white line disease and what to look for to catch it early? Thanks!
When picking out your horses foo, run your hoo pick around the white line , just inside the the hoof wall on the sole surface of your horse. A hollow there, called separation, could be the start of a problem. It would callfor a visit from your farrier. If when he trims there is a blackish area, it must go. Once trimmed Thrush Buster is a popular treatment, apply faithfully. There are other treatments out there but his is the least complicated.
If you want more reading–http://www.equipodiatry.com/article_white_line.htm
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Okay thank you
A groove between the sole and the outer wall is normal right?
You’d really rather not see one, unless it time for trimming. And even then, I look at them with suspicion.
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Isn’t that a normal white line? Not a super deep groove, just a little one. My horse has a bit of flaring right now
A longer hoof will start to flare and separate and eventually crack off. This is a sign your trimming schedule is inadequate. You can get persistent and problematic mechanical separation that way.
This flare can also invite in the pathogens that create the infection known as White Line Disease which will.continue the separation even if the trim is correct.
As I understand it the cure for both types of separation is to radically cut back the outer wall, called a resection or debriding. This lets sound hoof wall.grow out without further flare and it lets air in to kill the pathogens.
There are topical treatments likebwhite lightning but if the hoof ID resected I don’t know if they are necessary.
If the wld goes way up the foot the hoof structure can be compromised. Also the hoof can’t hold a shoe. In this case you might want to go barefoot bwith boots.
If you are just seeing the start of a groove on a barefoot horse you need to get trimmed more frequently and perhaps put a bit of a mustang roll bevel on the foot yourself with a rasp between trims.
Okay thank you, he has a tiny bit of a groove. His showing schedule is every 5-6 weeks
A resection really should be reserved for WLD which has gone well up into the hoof capsule. The lower stuff can often be taken care of by soaks as you mentioned such as White Lightning (or generic oxine, much cheaper) or Clean Trax, usually several, with good hoof management (frequent trims as necessary, dry environment depending on how bad things are, etc).
You don’t resect feet for flares 
You trim as much of the flare off from the top of the foot as you safely can, and set up the rest of the trim to not allow those flares to have leverage. That will allow them to grow down, each trim removing a bit more, and tight new growth will eventually reach the ground
If the wld goes way up the foot the hoof structure can be compromised. Also the hoof can’t hold a shoe. In this case you might want to go barefoot bwith boots.
Most resections will require a shoe to stabilize the foot. A more minor resection might not, but you wouldn’t take the shoe off just because of that - if he’s normally shod, leave him shod, if he’s normally barefoot, leave him barefoot for more minimal resections. But bigger ones compromise hoof stability too much and need shoes.
If you are just seeing the start of a groove on a barefoot horse you need to get trimmed more frequently and perhaps put a bit of a mustang roll bevel on the foot yourself with a rasp between trims.
It depends on what we are calling a “groove”. By default, as soon as there’s enough vertical wall growth, there’s going to be a vertical groove. In a normal trim cycle for an average foot, especially a shod one, you can easily get about 1/4" of new growth, so a groove that’s about 1/4" deep. Much more than that, and yes, the cycle should probably be shortened.
The problems arise when that groove (also) widens - that is stretching the white line and we don’t want that. That is a trimming problem most of the time, but it can also be a sign the horse is either not using his body properly and could be a warning sign that if it continues he’ll become visibly lame, and it can also be a function of the leg conformation. Horses who toe in or out weight their feet more unevenly than straight-legged feet, and flares often develop as a result. Trimming can keep those in check, but it’s hard to really totally prevent them.
5-6 weeks is pretty normal. Keep in mind that feet usually grow faster in warmer weather, so here soon he might need to be done a little more frequently. 5 weeks usually works for most horses.
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He does toe out a little in hind, which is where I am noticing something that I think might be WLD. The groove isn’t more than 1/4 inch (I don’t think, I’m not amazing with guessing measurements)
@ JB, I don’t know if my mare is typical or not but if her bare feet start to get long they flare, and start to separate or gap, and the only way to halt it is to resection. It doesn’t go up very far maybe half an inch maximum but if we don’t take it back it just keeps peeling like a split hair and pebbles get driven up and make it worse. I don’t think it has been infected, just mechanical. She wears off her front toes so the white line there is tight and seamless, but the quarters don’t wear as fast and start to flare.
I now have a rasp and am starting to use it between trims.
The bruising is from excess hoof wall, not from toeing out. I’m not surprised a vet would say that, given how little most of them know about feet. But the fact that your farrier also said that is just one more reason to find another one.
Most horses toe out slightly behind. It helps get the stifle out of the way of the barrel in the forward phase of the stride.
The solar view of the 1 hind foot did not show any remote signs of WLD.
That is usually from not frequent enough trimming, and/or not trimming properly each time.
What is your understanding of a resection? A resection is when you remove the entire outer hoof wall so that the diseased inner section is exposed to air, which helps kill the anaerobic bacteria.
Here’s a good article (thought a bit technical) on WLD
http://www.equipodiatry.com/article_white_line_fresh_look.htm
Here’s a small resection at the toe
http://www.thebarefootfarrier.com/666_500_csupload_60578564.jpg?u=3949666848
Much bigger resection
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/14346c_c9d696e0d3f24b30acf155dbd706184b~mv2.jpg
She wears off her front toes so the white line there is tight and seamless, but the quarters don’t wear as fast and start to flare.
I now have a rasp and am starting to use it between trims.
Almost without fail, quarter flaring is from heels that are chronically underrun. Occasionally it’s just a management nightmare because of how the horse is built, or moves, or something. But almost always it’s from chronically leaving heels underrun. And this almost always comes with toes that are too long, and that’s why toes usually get worn down.
So, the combination of wearing the toes and chronically flaring quarters tells me it’s most likely a trimming issue.
If you’re at all worried about white line disease – whether you suspect it and/or horse might have it – you could treat with CleanTrax or White Lighening (monthly) and nip it in the bud – or use as prevention. A PITA to do treatments, but well worth it.
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Okay thank you!
Am I correct that that pink color is bruising?
The front heels on my horse are not at all.under run but there have indeed been problems in the past scheduling trims on time, which is when the separation snuck up on us. That is why I now have my own rasp
Yes, that is what I mean by a resection. Cut away the top layer of hoof that is already gaping to eliminate the pocket that collects pebbles. In our case probably not much more than half an inch up at the worst. If we don’t do it the problem persists.
Yes.
Some horses have naturally pink tinted feet. How can I tell the difference?
No, they don’t have naturally pink feet. The are either black, or “white”, or some brown variations. Pink is never a natural color of feet.
Okay, hopefully the new farrier I call can help fix this
