Ridges in hoof wall

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chaps89

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Went to view a horse yesterday, really liked him but not sure about his feet. Being sold by a dealer who has had him since july and he came over from ireland, as far as they're aware he's never had laminitis. He's on no feed and lives out 24/7 on average grazing.
He has ridges/lines running around his front feet and one of the forefeet has a bulge towards the top of the hoof.
Apologies that it's a poor description. I have photos that I don't mind pm-ing but as horse is not mine don't want to post them. How can you tell if the lines are from laminitis and is the bulge likely to be significant?
I'm hoping to get hold of my farrier to ask him but know there is a lot of knowledgeable people on here who may be able to help too.
Thanks
 
The lines simply indicate a change in conditions, can be as simple as a change of paddocks. However I would be more concerned about the bulge....can you get an opinion from a barefoot trimmer or open minded farrier?
 
The bulge is likely, in my experience, to have been caused by a laminitic episode and if so it is called a lamellar wedge. Google that and see if it looks anything like.

It's a proliferation of keratin, a thickening of the horn. It is not only present in chronic cases, or in both front feet. I had a horse who abscessed at the toe from laminitis who ended up with a permanent bump about an inch wide on the front of only one foot.
 
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Thankyou both. I've messaged my farrier but he's off in a far flung country doing charity work. My mum has messaged her old farrier who instantly came back and guessed breed and background spot on despite not being told anything about the horse and isn't concerned about the lines but does think he needs a good farrier to sort his feet out. Hmmm
 
I was just having a similar discussion with my farrier yesterday as one of mine came to the UK about 6 months ago and you can now see "rings" or changes in his hoof wall where the worming, better nutrition etc has created a tighter better hoof structure. He was saying you can get rings from big stressful events like being shipped from one country to another in addition to sickness nutritional changes etc. The difference with laminitic rings was that they are thicker around the back and thinner toward the front (think that's the right way round?).

Anyway sounds like you've got it covered! :)
 
HD15 said:
The difference with laminitic rings was that they are thicker around the back and thinner toward the front (think that's the right way round?).
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Yes they tend to dip down/get wider apart at the heel in laminitic hooves. Tbh, lots of ripples repeated down the wall are a warning sign to me and any deep grooves are especially worrying.
 
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