Follow up on the Severe White line Disease case 7/22/2011

Hope everyone is staying safe in this record warm weather here in the US.  For those of you not suffering from the heat, your lucky.  Well the horses don't care how warm it is they still need there hoof care!  I revisited the white line disease case this past Friday.  We have continued accelerated hoof wall growth without cracks.  The Right front which is the more upright still has signs of fungal invasion despite mechanical unloading noted by the lucent zone in the Horn component of the H/L zone.  This would likely suggest the pathogen is invading new growth.  Left front shows continued improvement in all aspects with good hoof wall growth and sole depth recovery.  Sole growth has been slow to recover but is measurably increasing at this point.  I feel that higher scale mechanics (ie more rocker or deep digital tendon release) will be required for continued success in the right front due to this being the more upright foot and is under more deep digital flexor muscle pull.  At the last visit I instructed the owner to place on a weight control program with only enough alfalfa pellets to get the 100mg biotin and vitamin and minerals in.  Significant weight loss has occurred and will help the overall success of this case as the obesity could increase insulin and decrease the amount of circulation to the lower limbs further decreasing hoof quality and quality.  A great improvement is noted in hoof structure with loss of flares and a tighter new growth coming down.
    I elected to remove more dorsal hoof wall in area's that cavities existed and pack with a mixture of pine tar and oakum versus cleaning and packing with white lighting gel.  Below are updated photos and radiographs.  Read the captions for further information regarding individual images.

Increased sole depth but lesions from fungal invasion have remained

Very first radiographs

Good improvement in sole depth and new growth without fungal invasion

right front with 1/3 of new hoof growth.

Left front with almost half of new hoof growth without cracks.

Shoes are attached with a few nails into hoof wall then 3-4 next to hoof wall and superfast adhesive is used to glue  nails to hoof wall.  A band of superfast is added across the front to attach the two sides.  This has been one of my tougher cases and I appreciate the opportunity to work on this difficult case and the commitment the Owner has made to her equine companion.  We still have several months to go but I feel we have made significant improvement.


    We have two cases in the barn right now that we have been working with and plan to post them here on the blog as soon as time will allow to put together all the images, time lines and thought processes.  One is a fractured second phalanx (short pastern) named Lila that is recovering nicely and the second is a newly acquired laminitis case that was acutely laminitic about 6 weeks ago.  We will be posting those soon so keep checking back.  I am also excited about attending Dr. Redden's In depth podiatry 201 course August 8-12 in Versailles, Ky with farrier and friend Brendan Frost.

CHECK OUT WWW.HEARTLANDHORSE.COM FOR THE ONLINE VERSION OF THE HEARTLAND HORSE TRADER FOR MY FIRST ARTICLE EVER PUBLISHED!!  Look for it in all your local feed stores, tack shops and shows.

Stay cool, but most importantly Stay Fresh,,,,in your knowledge.