Horizontal cracks in back of hoof - any ideas?

[LouLou3]

Hi everyone - also posted in veterinarian forum.

I've been posting updates on my horses lameness - finally after about 8/10 weeks of on off lameness he developed an abcess - its a week in and it looks as though its healing nicely (fingers crossed).

In the beginning the farrier and vet found a crack in his lame hoof and thought he needed remedial shoeing as he has overrun heels, long toes etc - that worked and he came sound for about 2 weeks and then he got the abcess - am so pleased that it has finally come out and he can recover...BUT, I've now noticed two cracks in the same place on his other foreleg and one back leg.

I've been in touch with the vet who has suggested the following daily routine to manage them - flush with water, scrubbing diluted iodine solution into the cracks and then rub cornucrescine into them. I've been doing that for 3 days now but I'm petrified these cracks will go the same way as his last one.

The farrier is coming out tomorrow to look at his abcess so I'm going to ask him what we can do about the other cracks but I wondered what you guys all thought?

Oh, I've also started to give him biotin too.

Any thoughts re: what causes them and how to deal with them would be gratefully received

 

[CBFan]

I think basically, what your vet has sugested is the best way forward. you need to keep them clean to prevent infection and moisturised to keep the hoof wall flexible to prevent any further cracking.

As for the biotin, it won't do a hell of a lot unless the other nutritional support is adequate too so you might need a general purpose supplement too or a formulated hood supplement. My boy is on D&H surefoot which seems to be working nicely for him...

 

[brucea]

Mihgt be worthwhile switching to feeding linseed meal, brewer's yeast and a seaweed.

In any case make sure you are feeding no molasses. There is no science behind my saying this, but I have noticed that hoof problems and abscesses are more common in horses fed mollasses containing foods.

Personally, I am not a fan of any oils on the hooves. Just keep them moist (shouldn't be a problem in this weather). The oils carry in dirt, but also affect the moisture gradient which is part of the shock absorbing quality of the hoof wall.

 

[teddyt]

Horizontal cracks are usually caused either by trauma ( a knock) to the coronet band or an abcess growing out