Horses and White Line Disease

[Wild Prime]

White Line Disease is a maintenance disease. Your farrier is not trimming your horse short enough, often enough to get rid of it. There is no treatment from it other then exposing it to air and trimming the foot short, so that the white line can tight up to the point that the anabolic critters can't get in there to reproduce. In all the horses that I have trimmed, I can get rid of "WLD" in about 6 months of frequent trims. The frequent trimming is to keep the current "WLD" under control and to promote the foot to produce a tighter white line from the coronary band down.

I think you've solved my problem! We've had the same farrier for 3 years after firing our last one (for making our mare's feet bleed and putting shoes on her when we didn't want them). For the first year he was very consistent. He would call us 4 weeks after the previous trim and schedule a trimming for the 5th week. So every 35 days he was coming and trimming. Well then he got a partner who began to trim with him. She took over the business part of the team and was responsible for scheduling trimming. She advertised their trimming services and before we know it we could never get a hold of them. They were off at a resort town up in Northern Idaho the same week they were supposed to be trimming our horses. As I understand a lot of the rich people with warm bloods live there so our farriers were making good money. We could finally get a trimming scheduled and they would come out anywhere from 49-52 days after the last trim.

I believe now their inconsistencies with trimming our horses is what's causing WLD to stick around. Going to have to call them and figure things out. They do a great job and they have really helped us rehabilitate our 2nd horse after we got him (he had been abused and neglected). They need to get their priorities straight and our old schedule set in stone. I believe once we do the WLD will disappear.

bestponymilo- Our farriers actually just recommended this on their last trim for us to try. Its known as the #1 cure in Idaho but we've never heard of it until now. Go figure.

 

[onehorse_2000]

I'm sorry to say this, but if your horse(s) started with this after hiring this farrier, you might want to look at how your farrier is actually trimming your horses. You will need a farrier that can put a balanced trim on your horses, so that you can get the tight white line that you need to keep fungus out. If he is leaving their toes too long (something that 90% of the current farriers do), you will still have a hard time getting rid of it. There is a sweet spot between your previous farrier making your mare bleed and this farrier, who probably is probably leaving way too much foot and wall to clean up the "WLD". I have trimmed horses the same day as other farriers did and have taken off as much as 1/2"- 3/4" of foot with no ill affect on the horse, but the foot was much more balanced and at the correct length which will promote a healthy foot and a strong, tight white line.

I think you've solved my problem! We've had the same farrier for 3 years after firing our last one (for making our mare's feet bleed and putting shoes on her when we didn't want them). For the first year he was very consistent. He would call us 4 weeks after the previous trim and schedule a trimming for the 5th week. So every 35 days he was coming and trimming. Well then he got a partner who began to trim with him. She took over the business part of the team and was responsible for scheduling trimming. She advertised their trimming services and before we know it we could never get a hold of them. They were off at a resort town up in Northern Idaho the same week they were supposed to be trimming our horses. As I understand a lot of the rich people with warm bloods live there so our farriers were making good money. We could finally get a trimming scheduled and they would come out anywhere from 49-52 days after the last trim.

I believe now their inconsistencies with trimming our horses is what's causing WLD to stick around. Going to have to call them and figure things out. They do a great job and they have really helped us rehabilitate our 2nd horse after we got him (he had been abused and neglected). They need to get their priorities straight and our old schedule set in stone. I believe once we do the WLD will disappear.

bestponymilo- Our farriers actually just recommended this on their last trim for us to try. Its known as the #1 cure in Idaho but we've never heard of it until now. Go figure.

 

[Wild Prime]

The first year we had him everything was great. It was when he started coming later and later to trim that the WLD appeared. Sometimes he trims off more hoof than at other times, and I've asked him this before. He says he only trims off enough to keep the feet balanced. What would be considered a correct length of hoof?

 

[onehorse_2000]

In my opinion of 98% of the farriers out there, no, he is probably leaving way too much foot and wall on your horses. I can get a horse balanced in 3 swipes of a rasp, but that doesn't mean that I trimmed off enough foot and wall to promote a healthy foot. Most farriers leave too much foot, so that the horse starts too look long and you will call them back out to trim the horse again. When a horse is trimmed properly, their foot is short (not bleeding or painful), but short. It takes a good 2 - 3 months for a horse to grow 1/2 - 3/4" of an inch of foot. That is 2 - 3 months that you won't be calling you farrier and 2 - 3 months that he doesn't get paid. Horseshoeing schools taught these guys to be businessmen, not horsemen and not trimming and shoeing is not good for business. Just what I see and my opinion. I would look for someone that does a natural or barefoot trim, you should be able to get closer to what you need for you horses there, but that is not a guarantee either.

The first year we had him everything was great. It was when he started coming later and later to trim that the WLD appeared. Sometimes he trims off more hoof than at other times, and I've asked him this before. He says he only trims off enough to keep the feet balanced. What would be considered a correct length of hoof?