White liine disease and diet

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LPL

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Hello Farrier came today to shoe R, he said he has quite bad white line disease and we have taken his shoes off, we have withdrawn from our events and we're focussing on getting his feet right. He is currently fed a cheap chop that dad bought by accident, topspec balancer, oats and salt. We have been eventing at BE100 and doing the odd county workers. He is slightly underweight still after a really poor winter, in a month or so I will start feeding him fibre beet in addition. What else can I feed him to help his feet. I'm going to stop feeding that chop as I'm not sure it is unmollased and get him back on alpha a oil. He is currently living out 24/7 on rough grass. I also read this, http://www.healthyhooves.co.uk/wld.pdf so think I'll get him some cleantrax? Is this info accurate? I know nothing about any of this stuff so any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Thanks, a sad and confused LPL.
 
Firstly, cleantrax is great.

Secondly, If you're planning on keeping shoes off, you *may* struggle with all that alfalfa. A lot of horses go footy on it.

I would swap the TopSpec (over priced, unbalanced, cheap ingredients, molassed) for Pro Hoof or the Forage Plus Hoof Health Balancer.

Feed wise you can probably keep the oats. Unmolassed beet is high energy and horse (and therefore hoof) friendly. Micronised linseed is also good for condition and barefoot-safe.

WLD can be a pain, but it's generally resolvable simply by growing healthy hooves. The bacteria involved tend not to attack healthy laminae.

Good luck :)
 
Great I'll look into that then.

EEek I literally dont know anything about all this. I don't even know if my feed merchant stocks that! I'll look into that too then. So I'm assuming fibre beet is okay to feed then I was going to get some micronised linseed as well.

Thanks for the advice I am totally clueless about feet and diet for feet. It's all too stressful for me haha.
 
Thanks for the replies they are really appreciated. i have bought some household bleach and also some hydrogen peroxide? As I have read that is good for cleaning them out as well. I have added some pics for you to see. I am really ashamed of them but Hopefully we are on the right track. He is actually pretty sound without his shoes on. Even on the really rocky tracks around the yard.

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We've seen a lot worse, chin up:)

I use hydrogen peroxide. I buy 100 vol 30% from eBay and water it down by ten to give me 3%, use like water but don't splash your dark joddies unless you want a fetching Dalmatian effect.

Also, if you show wash it off dark legs, it turns the coat orange.
 
So I have ordered the pro hoof as I have run out of topspec anyway. So for building up and maintaing condition you suggest the linseed? He's actually not too bad atm but he does really struggle in winter with his weight.

Scrubbed his feet out yesterday with diluted bleach. He was much more footy yesterday but loads more hoof has broken off since these pics. he's fine on grass but concrete and rocks very sore. He looks like a ballerina. Greater good and all that!
 
My horse is 34 and I was mortified when the vet said he had it. After chatting to him and my farrier I was much calmer, get a clean plant spray bottle, when my horse had it, I used milton liquid diluted and spray once a week, fine now. Feed Formula for Feet. My friend had the bright idea to use the milton tablets and just dissolve a couple in the bottle in the water saves messing around measuring. I used life data hoof dressing the blue one, following the instructions
 
LPL said:
So I have ordered the pro hoof as I have run out of topspec anyway. So for building up and maintaing condition you suggest the linseed? He's actually not too bad atm but he does really struggle in winter with his weight.

Scrubbed his feet out yesterday with diluted bleach. He was much more footy yesterday but loads more hoof has broken off since these pics. he's fine on grass but concrete and rocks very sore. He looks like a ballerina. Greater good and all that!
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Why did you have to have his shoes taken off? treated mine with them on
 
The farrier said it would be best to let them grow out a bit. He only lasted 3 weeks the last few times, the were falling off so we're giving his feet a chance to grow out over winter. There was literally nothing to nail onto.
 
LPL said:
The farrier said it would be best to let them grow out a bit. He only lasted 3 weeks the last few times, the were falling off so we're giving his feet a chance to grow out over winter. There was literally nothing to nail onto.
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Great farrier. It may be the wld is related to the nailing, weakening the wall and allowing bugs in. Letting the hoof grow and the nail line grow out may give a clearer idea of the extent of any wld.

Diet is key to growing it out if persistent and severe. Low sugar and balanced minerals are also important so one of the balancers suggested above is a good choice imho.

ps. If severe I would choose cleantrax but it does require a compliant horse and a lot of time.
 
Tell me about it :( but tbf in Summer his feet really do just fall apart. In winter he goes 8 weeks.

All the broken good has chipped off now. He doesn't have an awful lot off hoof left tbh. He's still fine on grass and the school but he is sore on other surfaces. Feel awful atm but I don't think there is much I can really do. We are still on the remnants of his topsec and waiting for that pro hoof stuff. Will be buying some Micronised linseed shortly. I am trying my best to educate myself and do the right thing and I'm giving him all the time he needs.
 
LPL said:
Tell me about it :( but tbf in Summer his feet really do just fall apart. In winter he goes 8 weeks.

All the broken good has chipped off now. He doesn't have an awful lot off hoof left tbh. He's still fine on grass and the school but he is sore on other surfaces. Feel awful atm but I don't think there is much I can really do. We are still on the remnants of his topsec and waiting for that pro hoof stuff. Will be buying some Micronised linseed shortly. I am trying my best to educate myself and do the right thing and I'm giving him all the time he needs.
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Chin up, it will take time. I think your horse is lucky to have you, and your farrier sounds like a superstar :)
 
Thanks I needed that haha. Having one of those secret cry at work days where every thing has just become too much haha - not just his feet lol. I've attached pics from yesterday. I just feel bad because he's so sore.
 
His feet look like my barefoot mare's, we've moved this year and her bare feet are falling apart, I'm going to get our grazing analysed as think there's an imbalance somewhere.

She had WLD when she first went barefoot and it cleared up in a few weeks.
 
LPL said:
he's fine on grass but concrete and rocks very sore. He looks like a ballerina. Greater good and all that!
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Try these for when out of the field. Obviously they are no good for work but they stay on well and have pads included and would work well for going over stones and on the concrete yard. You could duck tape the base for extra longevity. They are quick to put on and take off. http://www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk/Boots/Hoof-Wraps-Hoof-Bandage
 
I have had to do a similar thing with my mare, she has seedy toe in both fronts and had a severe flare to the inside of one foot so the shoes came off I have been soaking in milton and they look much better apart from the cracks, its been five weeks this week so farrier due back next week, I might just leave them off a bit longer to let them grow down as she is not being ridden anyway. Good luck with yours.
 
Strange, I've always been led to believe you will never get rid of seedy toe/white line disease, help it not become worse but never rid of it...and that has been from vets and farriers! Not trying to be a killjoy here by the way!
 
Micky said:
Strange, I've always been led to believe you will never get rid of seedy toe/white line disease, help it not become worse but never rid of it...and that has been from vets and farriers! Not trying to be a killjoy here by the way!
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This is not true I'm afraid. It can be hard to get rid of and can require permanent changes to diet and initially soaks etc. but it will grow out in time as the hoof grows down provided things are right for good lamina connection.

Healthy lamina are robust and resistant to wld.
 
Jeeeeez you trying to give me a mental breakdown haha. He was pretty sore still last night. Going to buy him some boots I do actually have one boa boot so I've put that on the sorest hoof for now... Also my farrier seems to believe he will get rid of it but we'll see anyway.
 
Micky said:
If the laminae has separated, due also to laminitis, it wont grow and bond together to become a strong hoof wall, so there will always be some separation there......
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Yes, if you don't or cant get laminitis under control but so long as you can achieve and keep good lamina connection the hoof will grow down with a good connection. It just takes time and diligence in feeding, management and hoof care in many cases.

I'm sure your farrier is right to be optimistic op.
 
Micky said:
If the laminae has separated, due also to laminitis, it wont grow and bond together to become a strong hoof wall, so there will always be some separation there......
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Maybe if there is undiagnosed or uncontrolled metabolic disease or if diet or management are lacking. But it is possible to grow out white line separation - I've worked on lots of cases. But it does require consistently good management.
 
Its tricky to manage due to the muddy fields in winter etc, mine has reduced but was told it would never go completely as the laminae has come away and doesn't grow back, maybe this is just my horse :)
You can find out about EMS by having a blood test done, its not the end of the world, just more careful management ie diet low sugar and soaked hay in summer, no lush grass :)
Good luck, am sure you will get there with his feet :)
 
Micky said:
Its tricky to manage due to the muddy fields in winter etc, mine has reduced but was told it would never go completely as the laminae has come away and doesn't grow back, maybe this is just my horse :)
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My understanding is lamina cant reconnect once failed but there can be some repair with something termed lamellar wedge, different type of cells to close any gap. However, if infection has got a good hold it will eat all tissue it can so often there is just a gap or holes between the sole and hoof wall that collects mud stones etc.
Really wld is secondary to and linked to separation of wall to sole (weak lamina connection) which usually has a dietary and or metabolic cause. Obviously, more things come into play such as living conditions etc. but if the diet/metabolism is not right the problem will often keep recurring whatever you do.

Treating wld is a three prong approach. 1) low sugar, high forage, balanced (as far as is practical/possible) mineral diet. 2) management that gives time out of constantly wet muddy areas for treatment and drying. 3) Treating any infections and trying to keep stones etc. out.

Once diet is right, good lamina connection can then grow down and provided the lamina are healthy it will hopefully grow the wld/holes out as the hoof wall grows down.

That's my take anyway. lol

LPL, I wouldn't worry too much about metabolic issues at this stage. It is a bit of a waiting game, once diet etc. are sorted, as the wall needs to grow down. If you have holes/slits in the white line you can gently monitor over the weeks if they are getting shallower or ask your farrier how it's progressing.

ps. If he is hard to keep condition on have a look at this blog post from LucyPriory, it might be some help. http://www.barefoothorseblog.blogspot.ie/search/label/hind gut acidosis
 
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