White Line Disease is a fungal infection of the white line (or lamina) on the bottom of the horse’s hoof. White Line Disease is a widening of the white line, or a separation of the hoof wall from the sole. This separation is then invaded by bacteria and fungi, leading to infection that progresses up towards the coronary band which produces a white or gray powdery material. It is usually first noticed by the farrier during a routine trimming because only severe cases actually cause lameness.
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I'm glad you uploaded this! My horse is recovering from white line, and when he was diagnosed in February, I hadn't heard of it. My vet and farrier worked together to trim back the infected hoof and I used lots of betadine to keep it clean. I wrapped his hoof too, which seemed to help. My horse's hoof has grown back perfectly, and I give it an occasional spritz of betadine to keep it infection free. He's still goes perfectly well barefoot (knock on wood), and I hope he stays that way.
Thanks for shedding light on this! My mare got this and luckily my farrier caught it just in time so he was able to cut it out and let the air kill it. I also applied Durasole 3 times a week for 8 weeks and it was gone (:
Great video thank you! Would be easier to hear if the background music was lower and the speaker was louder on the audio. Thank you, appreciate the video!
Hi +Lexi Feld! Excellent question. The image you refer to is rather disturbing, as it addresses how insidious and subtle WLD can be. Although the area of the hoof that is being “eaten away” by the fungal and bacterial activity is structurally important, it is in fact dead, connective tissue, non-innervated and non-vascular. Basically, it’s like a foundation that is crumbling and deteriorating. Since there are no nerve endings associated with the structural breakdown, the horse does not feel any pain sensation. It’s only when the foundation weakens enough that the internal structures begin to collapse that we actually see an associated lameness. In this photo, the knife is being utilized primarily to show the extent of the breakdown and decay, but as you can see by the void in front of the knife, it is also being used to debride and clean away the diseased tissue prior to treatment. Hope this answers your questions. - SmartPak Hoof Health Consultant, Danvers
Good info. But, the music made it difficult to listen to this man!
I'm glad this video is out here, my barefoot farrier said my mare had this- of course previous farriers didn't notice, also found a website that suggests leaving it open without disinfectant and keeping dry- probably wouldn't work for me considering my horse and well the UK is pretty wet. Either way I should of done my research on this a week sooner! thankfully it's only small superficial holes, only the one the other I'm not sure about yet but I've been taking care of them both just in case (both her front feet, I don't think her back feet are as bad).
This sounds like toenail fungus in humans. The fungus eats the tissue between the nail and the underlying tissue so that the nail has nothing to hold it in place. Over time the nail will get distorted. Since human don't walk on their nails, it is more of a cosmetic problem than for horses.
You have said this is not painful but my horse is lame from it. My 25 year old just got shod and was lame afterwards. He was long..guessing that once he got trimmed and re-set it activated something. Once my farrier came back out and removed the shoe, there was separation on one side of his hoof. We cleaned it out and I have been using White Lightning. He is still lame. He is getting his shoe put back on tomorrow. I am pretty stumped.
I'm just curious but in the one photo you had like a pairing knife up to the hilt into the hoof. How was that not painful or even...possible? isn't that like sticking a pencil under your fingernail? I've never seen this in horses yet but then again I have only ever owned one and never had to deal with the farrier during all of my 19 years leasing and riding so, maybe I've been lucky not to have issues!
very good info. Thank you. Music not helpful. Hard to hear him.
Thanks for this video....BUT the music is very annoying!
So my rescue mare has WLD severely to where were pretty sure shes lame in a leg because she does have a cut only in that hoof. I think its a pretty severe infection with very hollow hooves too. Her lame legs clearly hurts her and a farrier is coming out pretty soon but we have no money for a vet. Do you think she has of ever healing from that? Possibly with no lameness? Before we bought her not knowing how bad her condition was we were told she was amazing riding mare. I need to know ASAP!
Hi Cashew Nut - We're so sorry to hear about your horse's situation and understand that finances can be a roadblock. While it's great that you are consulting a hoof care professional, if the horse truly has an severe infection that is resulting in lameness the best course of action is to seek medical attention from a local veterinarian before it gets worse. They will be your best resource when it comes to long term treatment and care of your rescue horse. Best of luck! - Dr. Lydia Gray
Please remove the distracting annoying music. The man giving the information is very knowledgeable and soft-spoken. Don’t deliberately wash out the important information with some concert.
The music is annoying and makes it hard to hear the speaker
Then turn on captions, the music is very quiet.
Is this contagious to other horse's ?
Turn the music down or off!!
First comment
God THE HORRIBLE MUSIC RUINED THE ENTIRE INFO ‼️‼️‼️‼️
not helpful