Stretched white line?

[Snipe]

I've read on here and other forums that the WL should be no thicker than the width of a credit card. I have a TB with a WL quite a bit thicker than this. How do you get a WL thinner? He's already on a low sugar and starch diet, and minerals.

Also, when the WL becomes thinner, can you see it at ground level, or do you have to wait for another hoof capsule to grow in?

Thanks!

 

[TwoStroke]

Have you had your grazing/forage analysed? Feeding balanced minerals may help. Other than that I can only suggest either reducing NSCs further, or increasing exercise - or both.

Neither of mine have a really tight WL either, fwiw. Seems like it's a really hard thing to accomplish in this country, unless you can provide conditions that are 100%.

 

[texel]

White line stretch is caused by flares.

A flare tells us that the white line stretching has occurred and the hoof wall is not well attached to the pedal bone.

Flare and stretched white line are the same thing. When you look at the sole of a flared foot, the white line beside the flare is dirty or makes a groove between the wall and the sole.

When the white line has stretched apart, the wall and bone cannot re-attach to each other. A new connection must grow down from the coronary band-- just as, if you tear part of your fingernail, you have to wait for the fingernail to grow out from the quick.

Most flares occur at the bottom of the wall, where ground contact mechanically starts to pry the wall away from the bone. Occasionally a hind foot that is overgrown in the toe but short in the heel, will form a bulge ("bull-nose") halfway up the toe wall. The white line at the bulge is stretched because the unusual mechanical forces in this shape of a hoof pull the wall away from the bone.

Laminitis can cause such a severe flare that the pedal bone falls away (rotates at the P2-P3 joint) downwards at the toe. Laminitis can result either from inflammation of the laminae (laminitis) or from mechanical forces in an overgrown or badly trimmed foot.

Flares are painful. The hoof wall is like a fingernail, and is attached to the bone by the same strong-but-tender material that holds fingernails on -- you can see the stripes of your own laminae through your fingernails. Flaring feels something like having your fingernail pulled off. Laminitis (inflammation of the white line) is so painful the horse will stand in the "founder stance." Even a mechanical flare is painful enough to make the horse noticeably unsound -- sometimes people think their horse is "being lazy" but the horse goes better when you get the white line tightened up.

Correct diet, correct trimming and plenty of exercise is the key.