CRACKED HOOF

[Carlos D.]

I have a beautiful black arabian mare--who is the most ignorant b**c* I have ever had --she lets no one else ride her except me -but she loves me dearly and will take me anyplace I want to go .She rides like a jack hammer..My family would like to see her in soup-or dog feed -but I never had a horse that liked me that much so she stays, anyway she has always had cracks in her hooves right in the middle on the front and runs from the bottom to the hairline , anyone know how to fix this?

 

[Alan]

Have you consulted with a good farrier? If the hoof wall is too dry you can buy a product called "Rain Maker" that you apply to the hoof wall, it adds moisture (?), softens the wall like hand lotion for us. You can also buy feed additive to help with the hoof, but it takes weeks to see a result, since hooves grow like our finger nails.

Alan

 

[dickie]

Thrush is the problem you are describing. Until you get it all cleaned out, it will not allow the hoof to grow back up. What you will need to do is to get a dremel with a small grinding bit, take and go up the crack until you get to the root of the crack. (it will look ugly) Once you get to the root of the crack take some bleach water, in a large syringe and use that to clean out the area. After that take some exopy and seal the area. It can be a long process growing the hoof out. It took my horse 6-8 months to grow the hoof back out. The crack my horse had was all the way to the cornary band. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, find a corrective farrier.

 

[Carlos D.]

thanks, for the info.--is this painful for the horse?

 

[Alan]

Thrush is the problem you are describing. Until you get it all cleaned out, it will not allow the hoof to grow back up. What you will need to do is to get a dremel with a small grinding bit, take and go up the crack until you get to the root of the crack. (it will look ugly) Once you get to the root of the crack take some bleach water, in a large syringe and use that to clean out the area. After that take some exopy and seal the area. It can be a long process growing the hoof out. It took my horse 6-8 months to grow the hoof back out. The crack my horse had was all the way to the cornary band. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, find a corrective farrier.

Thrush??? In our area we have thrush but it is caused by wet ground and not picking the hoof well enough during this season, if we get thrush in a horse we simply pick the hoof and pour bleach to it 3 times a week for a couple of weeks. If you have thrush you can smell it when you pick the feet. It may, but I don't know that it causes the hoof wall to crack, It may in sever cases, but I would think it would be secondary to the thrush.

It sounds like you're discribing another type of bacteria that attacks the hoof wall, as to why I suggested a good farrier. You should be able to tell if it is this type of bacteria by looking at the bottom of the hoof and looking for a "rotten" dark spot or area on the inside of the hoof wall, if it's there you should be able to dig some out with a pick or small object. If the "rotten" area is there you'll never get it all by picking at it, the hoof wall needs to be cut and opened up for bleach treatment. Cutting the hoof wall can cause problems in many areas if you don't know what your doing. I'm not saying you Carlos or Dickie are not experienced enough to do it but for the novice like myself I would leave that to experts.

It may also be a "impact" crack that is not healing which shoes and additives will help.

JMO
Alan

 

[Alan]

thanks, for the info.--is this painful for the horse?

could be very painful for you and the horse

Alan

 

[msscamp]

I have a beautiful black arabian mare--who is the most ignorant b**c* I have ever had --she lets no one else ride her except me -

Apparently you are not familiar with 'one-person' horses.

As far as the cracks are concerned, you don't say whether she is lame as a result of these cracks. If not, could be from overgrown feet, improperly trimmed feet, dry hoofs, being ridden on concrete, other hard surfaces without shoes, etc. If she is lame, find a good, reputable farrier.

 

[cowspider]

As a farrier, I would say it IS NOT thrush. It could be several things. Feet are too dry, compression cracks or not trimed up as needed. use hoof dressing and you should feed biotin in the feed. :cboy:

 

[grulla]

Our horses had fungus, which is different from thrush...we had to clean the small cracks out with a small headed nail then paint them with 7% iodine....this hardens them up and kills the fungus where bleach water will kill the fungus, but it drys the foot out which makes more cracks, which allows more fungus to enter in.

 

[T3Horse&Cattle Co.]

You have a simple problem. It is just a hoof crack. Look up Nolan Hoof plate on web and get a good fairier to put it on. Crack will stop spreading up the hoof that day. If you need help or advice on application of nolan plate e-mail me.

good luck
PT3

 

[J&T Farm]

Also a horseshoer, I agree. Thrush is NOT your problem. Several things u can do but nothing is a quick fix with cracks. From the hairline to the bottom of the hoof is about one year of growth.

 

[Wilson_Cattle_Company]

Good advice from all!

I would take a rasp go to the top of the crack and make a horizontal groove right at the top of the crack using the rasp horizontally. This also will keep the crack from spreading. I use "Rain Maker" by Farnam. I would recommend Farnam products to anyone. Use Rainmaker twice a day to treat damaged hooves. Do not use more then twice a day. The hooves will become irritated and cause the horse much pain!

Hope this helps.

Avery

 

[Missyclare]

I had a hoof crack last Oct, 04 and don't shoe my horses because they are not ridden hard or on hard ground. Went 10 months trying to trim out the crack every 6 weeks, but it would split upwards faster than the trim could delete it. Last July, Walter was also on hard ground and stomping flies and I thought I'd never get the better of this thing, until a friend told me about Gorilla glue. I happened to find some right in the front door of Office Depot one day, and decided to try it. Walter wasn't lame at all. It was a vertical crack that ran from the ground to half-way to the coronary with about a 1/2" spread at the ground. I went out to the field where he was and treated there. I washed out the crack with betadine scrub and a toothbrush, rinsed, put straight betadine in it and applied the glue while still damp. Then Walter decided to mosey off and down went the hoof immediately and that was it. Well, the next day, it looked like it had been in a vice all night, cause that crack was tight together at the top with only a 1/4" separation at the ground. Five days later, it looked gaping again, so I applied it again. Did it again 7 days after that. Then it never looked gaping again, so I left it alone. I rasped the toe off slightly to take the brunt off of it as well. The glue rasped beautifully! Two weeks later, the crack had veered sideways and you could see that growth was getting the better of it. Then the crack blew out. It looked like a tiny robot with a square mouth had walked up to walter and bitten him on the toe. All the bottom of the crack was gone. Within days, the square had grown out, along with the crack. Within 8 weeks, from farrier visit to farrier visit, I had made that crack go away. The farrier was amazed! He had been threatening me with shoes and I didn't want the expense and felt i didn't need shoes for this. No invasive cutting or drilling, no shoes, cured in 8 weeks during fly stomping, hard ground weather......amazing! I do think I was lucky, though. No infection present, no lameness, not a hole left from an abscess...any of these, I wouldn't have used this method....but in this case....worked for me! LOL!