picking out the white line...anyone do this?

[Firehorse]

my new pony arrived yesterday and his old owner kindly gave me lots of instructions. she handed me a nail and said that the farrier told her to run in round the white line on his unshod hind feet, as stones can work their way in. my previous pony was unshod and my farrier never said anything about doing this and she never had any problems. i'll do it as thats what his previous owners have done and i'm terrified if i dont it'll cause a problem. just wondered if anyone has heard of this or does this....

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Guess it depends on the ground you're on. Mine was unshod over winter and because we cross a gravel/gritty track to get to the yard, she was always coming in with little stones stuck into the white line.

 

[MrsMozart]

Little Cob has been unshod since we got him (two and a half years), we've never paid particular attention to the white line though.

It will be interesting to hear what others have to say

.

 

[charlie55]

I did this every night with my old boy, we have to walk over a gravel carpark to get to the stable and he always had tiny stones stuck in the white line, i use a nail to get the smallest out but generally a hoof pick does the job x

 

[Firehorse]

ok, thats interesting. i'd never heard of it being done before. i just use a normal hoof pick and then give them a brush over.

does it not damage the white line to do this every day?

 

[spaniel]

I too used to pick the white line of my old cob. He was unshod behind and if the line wasnt kept cleared out tiny stones and bits of grit would work their way in and cause abcesses.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

[ QUOTE ]
ok, thats interesting. i'd never heard of it being done before. i just use a normal hoof pick and then give them a brush over.

does it not damage the white line to do this every day?

[/ QUOTE ]

I used a wire brush to clear the dirt away and then ran a normal hoof pick round and really stuck in grit/small stones were flicked out with a nail or one of those tools for clearing stud holes. I think the stones cause more damage if left in as just work in deeper.

 

[charlie55]

It doesnt damage the white line doing it everyday as long as your careful. But as said above, if the stones work there way up it could cause alot of damage x

 

[stacey_lou]

I always have picked and cleaned out the white line for something thats so easy and quick to do I do it everyday beacuse I had a horse once that had something stuck in it that then lead to an infection and then had to poltice and bandage everyday for a few weeks and it was a nightmare and like I always say a job is better done properly the first time around

 

[Nailed]

I would suggest that you only mess with the white like if there is gravel or stones in it.. It is a lovely enterance for infection if you weaken it.

If there are stones in it then i would suggest removing the larger ones with a hoove pick of some sort, and then using a stiff brush and water to clean the whole hoof.

Lou x

 

[TheFarrier]

Be careful using a nail as if you push it too far in you will just be creating more problems. a hoof pick should be sufficient and only do this if there are visible stones.

You should not have to worry about this especially if the horse is shod frequently and the back feet attended to as the farrier will trim a section off (depending on the growth)

This is appliable to horses that do a lot of road work or those on stoney surfaces

 

[RachelB]

I agree with all the above - be careful not to push them in further. I spent all last spring and summer cleaning and disinfecting my horse's bare feet as her hoof walls were stretching away from the sole and she was getting all sorts up there, which started to get gunky and actually made her lame. It didn't help that she was obese and verging on laminitic. I cleaned her feet thoroughly every other day (every day seemed to make it worse and irritate everything) and fed her a hoof supplement to get the stretched bit to grow out. It took forever but she is now sound (*touch wood*) and has healthy (and shod!) feet.

 

[Donkeymad]

I have always had unshod horses and never actually picked the white line, just checked by running a hoof pick across it and from looking. If you 'pick' it you are I think encouraging the tiny gravels into the white line, by giving a small crevice in the first place. Just my thoughts on it.