Line/crack down hoof

[WishfulThinker]

My boy has had good hooves since I got him, no cracks etc.

On closer inspection of his hooves last night I discovered a crack and a line all the way down one of his hinds.

Now, how long would it have taken to get all the way up his hoof? Given that the crack at the bottom is actually rather small - about 7mm wide and 3mm high chunk.

I ask as my sister informed me that a farrier would have scored the hoof to stop it rising any further. Is this correct?

If so I think this might confirm the rumour that the loanees OH had been trimming beaus feet himself. Although the size of his frog also points to this.

I am booking him in to see the farrier asap, but what can be done as the line/crack is right up to the coronet band.

 

[Kallibear]

I don't understand how you think the crack confirms the lonee's OH has been doing his feet? And the size of his frogs? If they've become big and fleshy that's a GOOD thing! And sadly not something many farriers are interested in.

Cracks, esp very minor ones like you've decribed, can occur for many reasons. Hind feet esp often get quarter cracks (i.e at the sides) because the outside wall's a bit flared.

They can start from the bottom or the top and they can take weeks to develop or appear overnight.

Most farriers won't bother scoring the hoof to stop the crack because a) the crack sounds minor and not to be worried about and b) scoring doesn't work. You need to address the cause of the crack.

If you've have weather anything like our (dry then very wet for a couple of days now dry again) it's not suprising the foot's cracks - it'll have absorbed water and become soft and expanded during the wet then cracked as it dried out.

 

[Chico Mio]

Ari had a hairline crack right down the centre of one of his front hooves from coronet to floor when I bought him. The previous owner's farrier who was putting his last set of shoes on pointed it out to me and said, 'See that? Nothing to worry about. It has to do with expansion from temperature and moisture conditions and it will gow out.' He then picked up the foot and showed me the crack was totally superficial in the outside layer of the hoof and did not go through the wall at all. Personally I think the fact that Ari used to have center toe clips on his front shoes didn't help and since he has been with me his hooves have grown about 2cm and the crack is no longer in this new growth.

I'm not entirely sure how someone trimming his feet could cause such a crack - or how the crack can confirm this. As Kallibear says, if the frog is big and spread, great. Especially if Beau has no shoes. We do little or no frog trimming unless there are tatty bits to remove. If it has been cut back to a narrow triangle, not so good. Hopefully your farrier will reassure you that there are no major issues