Thoughts on this foot please?

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BestFeetForward

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The crack on this hind foot doesn't appear to be growing out and there is a small opening on the coronet as pictured.

Your thoughts please?

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History of the crack and the horse?

I'm more concerned at why the hoof wall is flared than the crack.
 
difficult to see in the straw but the heals look underun .

I would ask farrier to try and stop the crack, also if your not feeding a hoof supplement i would do so too
also allot of flare too

I would get a decent farrier to take a look at the top and find out whats causing this. asap
 
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It can be seen very clearly from picture one that the line of growth of the horn tubules in front of the crack is at a completely different angle from the line of horn tubules at the heel. That's why the foot is cracked at that point, because the pressure is highest right there between the two different lines of force. It's a very common place for a crack. If you can't see it, stick a postit note in line with the growth lines of each side of the crack on that picture and you will see that they are closer together at the bottom than the top.

Until those two sets of tubules line up, this crack cannot heal. That will not happen until the heel gets stronger and only work will do that. So as long as the horse is not lame then it should be worked on surfaces which will encourage heel development, and meanwhile the crack should be kept scrupulously clean.

The new angle at the top of the foot is very promising and should remove the flare as it reaches lower down the foot, if the diet is suitable.

If this was my horse I would also make sure that the horn at the bottom of the crack was removed from bearing on the ground, to lessen the forces acting on the crack. Many horses naturally scoop out the sides of their feet and this should not cause any problems.
 
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Imagine if you grow your thumb nail and file it into an oval and the nail has a crack down the centre, now bend the nail back by putting weight on it and it will crack further - to strengthen the nail it needs sides which is a more stable stronger shape, so you cant easily bend it. This horses foot seems to be shaped the same way - ie there's no strength/width at the heel to stabilise the while thing? Don't know if that makes sense, but that's why it appears to be like to me :confused:
 
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BestFeetForward said:
Thank you CPTrayes very informative. The horse is now sound and is starting roadwork. I'll keep you posted :-)
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That should do it :-) I think you'll see an improvement soon, will you let us know?

This crack on one of mine healed up very quickly, yet it was flexing with his foot when he moved, even in shoes. Again you can see the different alignment of horn tubules in the heel to the rest of the foot.

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Try feeding gelatine, we had amazing results within 12 weeks, you get it from the home baking section of supermarkets, not expensive, I fed one sachet per feed and even the farrier commented on the improvement. For 69p per pack, what have you to lose
 
flirtygerty said:
Try feeding gelatine, we had amazing results within 12 weeks, you get it from the home baking section of supermarkets, not expensive, I fed one sachet per feed and even the farrier commented on the improvement. For 69p per pack, what have you to lose
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Sorry, but I'd feel mightily uncomfortable feeding something animal based to my horse (gelatin is usually made from rendered cow or pig feet).

If you can make the edge non-weight bearing, and try to tub with bottle steriliser, epsom salts or even table salt regularly, hopefully you should see an improvement in a while.

However, there seems to be a defect in the coronary band, so this hoof might always have a slight weakness along this quarter.
 
Correct me if I am wrong but if there is permanent damage to the coronary band the crack will be permanent aswell? The only reason I say this is because my 4yr old who have owned since he was a yearling has that type of crack. He is in work and currently unshod behind and I have a very good farrier so his foot balance is spot on. Once his work increases it may be necessary to shoe him behind but will cross that bridge when I come to it. My farrier burnt a little 'kiss' across it part way up to stop it spreading too far up his foot.
 
There is a clear imbalance in this foot, with the horn tubules on one side of the crack at a different angle from the other. When this horse has built a bit more heel (he's only been out of shoes 8 weeks) there is every chance that the tubules will line up, and if they do the whole crack, including the hole at the top, should heal, though he may always, like mine, have a line there in his hoof.
 
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