Little stones in the white line

Identityincrisis

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I'm looking for help.

Currently rehabbing my 8yr old Anglo Arab after a Navicular diagnosis. He had an accident which I believe led to his collapsed heel. He has never been shod, I stopped riding and just started walking him in hand for 10 months, we finally started riding about 6 weeks ago (yay!!) and taking that very slowly.

I've recently moved yards and it has lots of little sharp stones which are getting into his white line
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:( he has a thin sole on that foot, I avoid the stones as much as possible (he only has an ouch every few days on the bigger stones) but we still pick up the little critters. I have applied HoofArmor which is great on his sole but the stones are still getting into the white line.

I realise white line is highly influenced by diet, he is on soaked hay, bucket feed is a hand full of Top Spec Zero chaff, a tiny amount of Fast Fibre and Pro Earth Platinum Hoof, I am increasing the Pro Earth to full ration but have struggled with palatibility.

Does anyone have any ideas? Boots aren't really an option as his feet have a flare that prevent anything staying on
 

ester

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It's genuinely not something I've ever worried too much about, my own was prone to lateral flare albeit only at the very bottom (if well trimmed WL always looked tight) The stones never got very far and were easily removed with my mini screwdriver.
Are they actually causing issues?
 

Identityincrisis

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They don't seem to be but people always seem to make a big deal! I just scoop them out and all is good, he's not lame from them...... I guess I worry they would work their way up and compromise the WL?
 

Twohorses

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I am someone who makes a big deal out of tiny stones lodging in the whiteline and also flared hooves--- when it's my horses, I am downright ballistic:)

1. Pick those teeny stone pieces out of the whiteline. Where I am from it is called "graveling" when those pieces work their way UP thru the whiteline into the hoof and often burst out at the coronet band.

2. the horse should be getting trimmed often enough that flares are not an issue. If the farrier is leaving the hooves flared, then it's the farrier's fault the horse has whiteline issues.

Either way, there needs to be some corrective work done on the hooves to eliminate flaring and tighten up the whiteline.

Arabs are also very prone to metabolic issues. There is always the possibility the horse is dealing with mild laminitis -- especially given its recent issues that have caused stress on the hooves:)
 

ester

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If that's the only issue (no other soreness) while hoof boots would stop the 'problem' it just isn't really a problem and I think most horses do better bare if they can, boots always have a bit of a compromise whether it is getting them on/off or the horse moving a bit differently.

I mean it certainly isn't always the farriers fault if a horse is getting white line issues either, there is so much more to it than that. F's is currently stretched in his hinds which he has never been before but we are essentially seeing the issues of last summer come to the top, it's not ideal obviously but there is nothing I would change of his management/to cope with his likely metabolicness.
Me and the farrier also have different views and very different techniques re. addressing flare as one hind is definitely supportative, but I also had the advantage of doing him 2-3 weekly when in lots of work over challenging terrain, not 6 weekly on a horse that is dossing in a field.

Theoretically yes it can cause problems (I don't know if you remember Michen's resection on Boggle's hoof?) But I've never heard of it happening to one receiving regular hoof care, as you'd have dealt with it before it ever got a chance. If you were really bothered I'd give a squirt with some sole cleanse after removal if that makes you feel better?

fwiw we had a big issue when F's shoes first came off as he already had some WLD under the shoes leaving gaps and they'd just resurfaced our road with chippings.... but was never an actual issue. I love my little screwdriver, it's excellent for cleaning the gap between his front teeth too :D :D

Do as I say not as I do, I'm the biggest worrywart and being opposite sides of the country to the horse doesn't really help! I get all right you have xyz in the cupboard, how bad is it, send me a pic, I order you some cleantrax etc ;)
 

tristar

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i use a little screwdriver , so easy, sometimes wire brush clean to get a good look in there,and keep flare under control
 

Identityincrisis

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Thanks for your responses.

He has some flare but as he has wonky legs this is currently allowing him to land evenly, funnily enough it's not even where it's flared that the stones creep in. His heel on his flat foot has come back significantly over the 10 months and his bulbs are starting to beef up, just need his frog to catch up! I'm happy with his soundness and ability to cope with varying terrain

I was concerned all my scooping out of gravel was making the situation worse but I'll stop being a worry wort! Thanks again :)
 

Twohorses

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Thanks for your responses.

He has some flare but as he has wonky legs this is currently allowing him to land evenly, funnily enough it's not even where it's flared that the stones creep in. His heel on his flat foot has come back significantly over the 10 months and his bulbs are starting to beef up, just need his frog to catch up! I'm happy with his soundness and ability to cope with varying terrain

I was concerned all my scooping out of gravel was making the situation worse but I'll stop being a worry wort! Thanks again :)

Do you put any sort of anti-fungal treatment in the whiteline as a "safety net"?

I use Thrush Buster or Thrush Off that I order from the Valley Vet catalogue. The former has a tip that you squeeze the product on, the latter uses a brush for applying:)

Both have gentian violet as the primary ingredient; it is great for killing any sort of fungus or bacteria that might want to get into the hoof thru the whiteline and also for frog & central sulci thrush issues:)

I have tried a lot of good products thru the years - it seems like gentian Violet products do the best at treating and preventing hoof & frog issues - unless the hooves are so bad they need soaked in something like CleanTrax or White Lightening/)
 

ester

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We don't really have either of those available over here (without paying for importation) but we have plenty of other good options :)
 

Littlebear

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My horse is barefoot and this caused her to get quite sore, I use a shoeing nail and put hoof putty in now and problem solved x
 

paddy555

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I am someone who makes a big deal out of tiny stones lodging in the whiteline and also flared hooves--- when it's my horses, I am downright ballistic:)

1. Pick those teeny stone pieces out of the whiteline. Where I am from it is called "graveling" when those pieces work their way UP thru the whiteline into the hoof and often burst out at the coronet band.

2. the horse should be getting trimmed often enough that flares are not an issue. If the farrier is leaving the hooves flared, then it's the farrier's fault the horse has whiteline issues.

Either way, there needs to be some corrective work done on the hooves to eliminate flaring and tighten up the whiteline.

Arabs are also very prone to metabolic issues. There is always the possibility the horse is dealing with mild laminitis -- especially given its recent issues that have caused stress on the hooves:)

I'm another who makes a big deal of it. To me a tight WL is is one of the most important things. I check the WLs before we ride with a bradawl and when we come back with a bradawl and a wire brush. Nothing is allowed in there! If I hear gravel in out riding I will get down and deal with it. I can't sit listening to it. I trim to keep the WL's tight.
 

TreeDog

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My horse also gets this so I'm glad others are saying not to worry. It doesn't seem to bother him, though I find if I trim more frequently it's better.
 

TPO

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While the hoof is growing down/diet taking effect/WL tightening it might be worth looking at some of the Red Horse products. I get a bit confused as to what does what but there's Hoof Putty that might do the job to fill the WL and be a barrier to some of the grit.

I know you didn't ask and sorry for being "that" person but it *might* be worth looking at a replacement for Fast Fibre. I fed it years ago thinking that I was onto a good thing. A new trimmer told me to stop it straight away as it has Nutritionally Improved Straw (NIS) and something else in it that isn't the best of ingredients for a BF horse. I swapped it for grass nuts iirc and it definitely did make a difference to the "problem horse" I had at the time in regards to the WL tightening. There were other factors so I couldn't say how much of it was down to removing FF but every little helps when you have a tricky one to transition!
 

Identityincrisis

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While the hoof is growing down/diet taking effect/WL tightening it might be worth looking at some of the Red Horse products. I get a bit confused as to what does what but there's Hoof Putty that might do the job to fill the WL and be a barrier to some of the grit.

I know you didn't ask and sorry for being "that" person but it *might* be worth looking at a replacement for Fast Fibre. I fed it years ago thinking that I was onto a good thing. A new trimmer told me to stop it straight away as it has Nutritionally Improved Straw (NIS) and something else in it that isn't the best of ingredients for a BF horse. I swapped it for grass nuts iirc and it definitely did make a difference to the "problem horse" I had at the time in regards to the WL tightening. There were other factors so I couldn't say how much of it was down to removing FF but every little helps when you have a tricky one to transition!

Thanks for your reply. I don't find stuffing it with the putty etc helps but I'm just scooping them out now.

Ha no problem! I decided last week his feed was the only part of the jigsaw I wasn't doing 'by the book' so I've switched to Agrobs Gut Mash, if nothing else he loves it! Hopefully his feet will too
 

Surbie

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I love that brush! My friend's been singing it's praises for a while and I have one coming my way now.

I've been feeding magnesium oxide on Nic Barker's recommendation for 5 weeks and have noticed his white line is now tightening. Much less gravel, though the walk from the field is over road scalpings/hardcore so there is likely to always be some.
 
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