The Truth About Equine Hoof Abscesses - Part One

Easycareinc Blog - Full Article

Monday, January 26, 2015 by Guest HCP

Submitted by Patricia Morgan Wagner, Hoof Rehabilitation Specialist

Hoof abscesses can be much more serious than most of us realize. Abscesses usually are misunderstood, misdiagnosed, mistreated and cause our horses unnecessary suffering, loss of use and too often loss of life. The following is a brief explanation of White Line Abscesses of the hoof wall.

It’s commonly believed that a horizontal crack appearing in the hoof wall is caused by injury at the hairline (coronary ridge) that treks down the hoof with the wall growth. However, a crack or rather split in the wall that develops as a result of trauma at the hairline will typically be vertical and will nearly always become a permanent fixture of the wall to some degree.

Conversely, horizontal cracks in the hoof wall are most often caused by abscesses affecting the white line (WL) that rupture at the hairline and migrate with wall growth to the ground where it should be trimmed off. Abscess rupture sites may be any width; from a hole the size of a match head, to several inches wide. Multiple abscesses can affect the same hoof at the same time or in very close succession. More than one hoof can be affected at the same time due to duplicate conditions. WL abscesses generally affect hooves that have been neglected, or that are trimmed regularly, but incorrectly, shod or unshod...

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