Causes of White Line Disease

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Nesma

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In horses with no laminitis issues who live in absolute clean conditions in both stables and paddocks, with normal hoof configuration and balance and no other obvious problems causing hoof wall seperation - what could be the cause of a sudden outbreak of White Line Disease?

I have not come across this problem before so am trying to gather as much information as I can to try to understand why it has occurred.

My farrier trims the horses quite severely. Could this have been the catalyst that set it off?

Any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Nesma
 
I have limited experience with this, but a youngster on my old yard developed quite severe wld/separation and it proved to be a direct result of poor trimming, which he began to recover from on changing farrier. His owner did a lot of research on tinterweb and it seems that this is indeed the most common cause.

f x
 
There is a long and detailed article by Pete Ramey on the following link:

http://www.hoofrehab.com/end_of_white_line_disease.htm#laminitis%20update

The link has several of his articles on natural hoof care, but the one you may be interested in is called "The End of White Line Disease". You need to scroll just over half way down the page to find it.

On another note, the best chemical treatment I am aware of is Cleantrax, which needs to be used in a long soaking boot to allow gravity to force the solution up the white line. Available from here:

http://www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk/treatmentsGC.html
 
miltons sterelising fluid is good too, and a bit cheaper and easier to get hold of than cleantrax, though not as good i believe.
 
Yes Milton fluid is good for mild cases, and can help if a hoof is chipping or flaking at the base due to white line separation. With Milton you use a 50% dilution in a small container and soak for 10 minutes.

Cleantrax is much more of a major event, as you use a lot more solution in a soaking boot, so it actually goes up the leg, and the weight of the water forces it up the white line, and you have to do each leg for 45 minutes, which can be very amusing, keeping a horse still for that length of time without losing the whole lot!! It is definitely worth the effort though to do the job properly.

You can get 2 legs out of one bottle; after 90 minutes the solution doesn't work any more.

It is recommended to do a dummy run first with a soaking boot of water to get the horse used to the idea, so that the first boot of water he kicks across the stable isn't the one with the expensive Cleantrax solution in it!
 
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