My horse was just diagnosed with white line disease. I’ve been looking at products to help with this. I found two, White Lightening and Sav a Hoof. Any reviews on these or any other recommendations appreciated. TIA
Did your vet give a course of treatment?
White lightning soaks are excellent for treating WLD (and thrush!) in my experience. I haven’t used Sav-A-Hoof, personally. CleanTrax is another good option to consider. If using either CT or WL, make sure you really follow directions in terms of volume of water used, and in sealing up the hoof in the bag/boot after discarding the solution to let the gases continue to do their work.
After a soak, Red Horse products (Hoof Stuff and Artimud) are really awesome for packing any crevices to help prevent recurrent infection.
I’ve used Oxine AH activated with citric acid with success… takes care of white line and thrush.
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I had a small donkey that had white line disease. I used Sav-A-Hoof on him. It worked but it takes a while and you have to be consistent. I used it every day for a couple of weeks. Then probably 3 times per week until the farrier said the white line disease was gone.
My ancient Cushings mare has reoccurring issues with WLD. To keep it at bay, we trim every 3 weeks and in between I disinfect and pack her hooves every 3-4 days. Basically I pick the hoof, then douse liberally with a mix of water, chlorohexidine, copper sulfate and tea tree oil, then pack with magic cushion and let her hang out in a shavings stall for a couple of hours. It has worked miracles for her feet.
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I have had good success treating mild white line and thrush with diluted copper sulfate. It’s dead cheap and I put it in a spray bottle. CleanTrax is a good product- ditto the poster who advised carefully reading and following the directions.
My horse has a tiny bit of white line at his toes that my new barefoot trimmer uncovered. She recommended Thrush Off from Well-Horse. I use that, but I also use ToMorrow Dry Cow mastitis medication (can get at Tractor Supply). I’ve never found anything as effective in clearing up stubborn/serious cases of thrush/white line.
I’ve used White Lightning and Cleantrax, both work.
Where is it and how extensive? Sometimes the only option is resecting the hoofwall above it. If it is mild, Oxine AH is generic White lighting and it is amazing at cleaning everything out of a foot. I soak 50/50 Oxine AH and white vinegar in a 5L Dry sack. 2 oz of each is enough.
WLD can be insidious, frustrating and difficult to kick to the curb because there are so many factors at play.
First is the reason why WLD occurred in the first place (why was there a Whiteline separation allowing the pathogens in the environment to set up shop),
THEN why is the reason not being resolved naturally (is the horse lame-ish, is the farrier work poor, is there too much time between trims, is the environment chronically wet, etc),
FINALLY finding the right concoction to deal with YOUR particular flavor of pathogen, as the stink foot nasties are almost always a mix of bacteria AND fungi, and everyone’s cocktail is a little different due to the local micro-ecosystem. All of this means a horse owner has to kiss a lot of frogs when it comes to finding a OTC remedy. What works for someone in Oregon probably won’t for someone in Arizona.
This is a good article if you haven’t read it already: https://thehorse.com/113282/the-frus…-line-disease/
For a starting place, I echo the suggestions to use chlorhexidine. Its cheap, effective over a broad spectrum and easy to use. I’m in the super wet mid-atlantic and I’ve had little positive result with Clean Trax, White Lightening, and Save a Hoof.
Overall, I suggest talking with your vet and farrier as they will recommend something they have seen success with in YOUR environment.
