[EmmaWay24]

I am wondering if my horse too has white line disease. I live in an area with no natural trimmers so I am kind of going the barefoot route on my own. My horse keeps getting more sore I am at the point of just giving up and putting shoes on him, but I don't know if that would help the underlying problem.

My horse has been barefoot for over 2 years but was in Michigan and not rode much before this past May when I moved him to Colorado. At first he was very sound in the rather gravely arena and pretty solid over rocks. Within a month however he started acting more tender. He seems to get worse by the week. He looks great on the grass pasture but in the arena he will have at least one "ouchy step" for every time around the ring. on the gravel road and rocky trail it is more like every ten steps. He is turned out 24/7 on a large, wet, grassy pasture (I know this isn't ideal, they just turned the irrigation off this week, but it's my only option right now).

He was on a performance grain because he has had trouble keeping weight up but I have switched to triple crown (a low starch formula).

I recently bought him some boa boots for the trail but haven't had a chance to use them yet, I wanted to continue to ride in the arena barefoot to help circulate blood in his hoof but he seems so sore

His hoof wall appears strong and doesn't crack at all even on rocky trails, but his soles are low and it seems like his hoof wall is separating in spots away from the sole.

Today I might of made a mistake by attempting to put a mustang roll on him (his farrier just does a pasture trim, I've heard this is not very good). He seemed extra tender right after (Oh no! ).

Anyway, here are some photos, can anyone tell me if this looks like white line disease? The fist two are from a back hoof (which I think looks good, he seems sore only in his fronts). The next is the side view of a front hoof, then the left front (white line looks wiggly near the top). And then the R front - see the separation near the heal?

 

[loosie]

Firstly Emma, as you've posted this on another thread & I already replied, it's best to keep all together in one thread, so you might ask the mods to delete that other post of yours & move my reply here.

Today I might of made a mistake by attempting to put a mustang roll on him (his farrier just does a pasture trim, I've heard this is not very good). He seemed extra tender right after (Oh no! ).

I either missed that bit or you didn't include it. No, all a 'mustang roll' is is a bevel to the outer edge of the wall, to reduce leverage & therefore chipping & such. If that's all you've done, it's no mistake & won't have made your horse sore. I think it depends on the surface they live/work on as to how long the walls should be in relation to the sole, how 'strong' a 'mustang roll', etc. In a dry, gravel environ, I think walls are generally kept down to just about sole level all round and kept well 'rolled'.

In addition, the amount of 'stretching' that is present in your horse's front feet, partly evidenced by the messy looking lamellar line, need some heavy bevelling IMO, in order to relieve the walls & allow them to grow down strongly attached so they can share the load.

 

[Patty Stiller]

I do not see any really significant issues in this horses feet other than the heels are still too forward which is causing the bit of flare in the quarters. And there is a some subtle flare at the toe that needs to be dressed off.

Drastically bevelling a wall all the way around a foot, especially on a thin soled horse can really SORE a horse up and is unnecessary. Most domestic horses are NOT mustangs with mustang feet and will not comfortably tolerate having all the wall removed from weight bearing. They NEED the inner layer (the un-pigmented) of the wall to share the load with the edge of the sole.
It is important to remember that mustangs have 20mm of sole but most domestic horses are lucky to have half that. Even Gene Ovnicek, the ORIGINAL researcher of the feral foot does not do a "mustang roll" on non mustang feet.
I would just rasp the heels back more, dress off the flares in the quarters and leave him alone. And maybe use some sole hardener such as Rickens sole freeze or Durasole on them to harden and dry them. Everyone wants to panic about little stuff.

 

[Patty Stiller]

PS if you get those heels down and back enough, the frogs will quickly get healthier, too.

 

[EmmaWay24]

Thanks loosie, I'm new to the forum world! I will have that post deleted. Some conflicting opinions here, any one else want to wiegh in?. Should I do the heal rasping myself or ask my farrier (I'm nervous to ask him as he isn't a barefoot guy)?

Also just a report for anyone with similar issues of a horse kept in a muddy grass pasture but rides on rocky trails - used the hoof boots yesterday = amazing! No more head hanging low, grunting or refusing to walk forward. Poor guy just wanted to tell me he was sore . Anyway the terrain here is extreamly rocky, muddy and often steep and the hoof boots worked like a charm.

Had a lot of people try and tell me he was barn sour and being a brat but I wasn't convinced. He just didn't want to walk down a gravel road because he was sore. Goes to show, always listen to what your horse is trying to tell you before you assume he's being bad
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[loosie]

Hi Patty, Not sure if you're new here or just been lurking. Good to hear another professional voice here! I usually explain that I appreciate we've got but a few pics & a little info, so what we suggest is always to be taken as 'food for thought' & possibly not accurate if we had the hoof in front of us. I also tend to speak in generalisations, as IMO there are precious few hard & fast rules.

horses are NOT mustangs with mustang feet and will not comfortably tolerate having all the wall removed from weight bearing. They NEED the inner layer (the un-pigmented) of the wall to share the load with the edge of the sole.

I agree that domestic horses AND mustang's(I'm presuming we're talking the arid rough environ mustangs) load should be shared between wall & sole. I think different people interpret a 'mustang roll' differently & to me it doesn't at all mean removing the entire wall from weightbearing. The inner wall should absolutely be there for support.

BUT ASSUMING it's healthy & well attached. When the hoof wall is already compromised, such as lamellar wedge & stretched toes, then IME it may not be in a position to take a support role & may need to be relieved in order for well attached material to grow down. Leaving unhealthy/flared wall can cause soreness too. *When walls are compromised, the soles are usually too thin too & they may well need padding while they are bearing the load while healthy wall grows down.

Even Gene Ovnicek, the ORIGINAL researcher of the feral foot does not do a "mustang roll" on non mustang feet.

I would say whether to do(or how much to do) a mustang roll comes down more to the environment the horse lives/works on.

And maybe use some sole hardener such as Rickens sole freeze or Durasole on them to harden and dry them. Everyone wants to panic about little stuff.

No panic here, but I think a lot of people think this suddenly means the horse is capable of rough ground without protection. If the soles are thin, they may be marginally better with hardener, but still thin & at risk of bruising & such, so I think it's best to protect/support them where needed.