advice needed re picking out white line

[Firehorse]

my horse's previous owner handed me a nail and said her farrier told her to pick out the white line in his unshod back feet with it. i've never done it before and am unsure if i'm doing it right. there have been a few small stones i've got out, but they leave a small hole. is this right? and should there be a groove where the white line is? the nail is making a groove.....

 

[ribena73]

I had problems with my section A's front feet as he was always getting stones stuck in the white line. I was also given a nail by the farrier to pick out the stones. I got him shod on the front in the end as the hoof wall started to separate. Before that though I was plugging the holes with iodine-soaked cotton wool to stop more stones going in there

 

[spaniel]

Sounds normal to me.....Id get him shod all round.

 

[Lippyx]

Soak the feet in warm water and this will make it a lot easier. We had this with the unshod riding school horses, and after a long soak, we were able to just use a good hoof pick!

 

[Sharonr]

I have to do this with my wee girl who is unshod at the back.

She keeps getting small stones stuck and she is actually starting to separate so getting her back feet shod next time round to avoid this as she's becoming quite footy!!