White Line Disease??

When I went out today, Cerra stood immaculately well for me. She was brushed all over, picked up ALL feet and cleaned... ALL FEET! (Used to be terrified of back feet/being kicked, but she's helped me dominate said fear).

As an aid to "Annie's" OTTB, I went over and picked out his front feet as well. (Long story short: Annie and I were Equestrian friends, board at same place, had a SEVERE falling out.) So, if we're not friends anymore, why do I bother with someone else's horse?

Well, the poor dear has a probable ringworm on his face plus blood blister (diagnosed by Vet). He has lost an unbelievable amount of weight since he was taken to the new boarding place, where he has unlimited hay/water/pasture. (Back has lost about 2 inches, BM says :'( )Unfortunately, the paddock is clay-based and the pasture is often cycled between boarders herd and owners herd, so they can be in the paddock for a day or two.

She rides and neglects his feet, and last summer (soon after she got him,) he was notorious for abcesses. A few days ago, I picked the mud/clay/gravel out and he seemed pretty stoked about it. Today, he was much better with his feet, but again, I've noticed that when I scrape the sole, there's a bright white line left. Am I being too rough??

Cerra doesn't have this problem, which is why I'm confused. And it's not once in awhile that I scrape and this line appears. It's almost every time on both feet. Plus, there's a certain spot that when I touch (half an inch left of the frog), he wants his foot back. Possible abcess?

There's no way to get them "washed" for a good look, so could this be a case of WLD? Or am I being a little overcautious?

Do you mean you are scraping off his hoof and it's coming off in white powdery bits? Does it smell bad? That could be thrush and it would make sense that he would get that if his feet haven't been well tended to.

It's easy enough to treat, there are all kinds of liquids/creams you can put in it. I like Thrush Buster which is like $20 around here. Clean the foot out really well and apply the liquid. For TB, let it soak in before letting the horse put his foot down.

That is EXACTLY what I mean! :)

THANKS DEERLY!!!

You're welcome! That's probably what it is exactly :) My guy just got a little thrush because I was keeping his hoof wrapped and it wasn't getting any oxygen. It's easy enough to take care of but important that you/she do because if left untreated it can cause a horse to go permanently lame!

O.O -- Funny.. I'm writing her right now. LOL. Thanks again! :)

Hi,

Obviously with little info & no pics, we're all just making educated(or otherwise) guesses at best here, but the 'white powdery stuff' just sounds like dead, unshed sole material to me. Especially if it's wet, dead sole material is likely to be soft. This is not a worry at all. Thrush is generally a dark, gooey, stinky stuff. You will generally only find it on/in the frog or 'white line', not on the sole.

The area on his sole that he doesn't want you to touch sounds like a possible abscess tho.