White Line Disease

Now is the time to learn how to protect your clients’ horses against one of the more troublesome aspects of quality hoof care.

Our newest in-depth eGuide on “White Line Disease: Different Approaches To An Old Problem” aims to dramatically help the horses in your practice suffering from this concern, and it’s FREE!

Dear Hoof-Care Professional, 

When it comes to preventing and dealing with white line disease, it’s important to understand what you can — and shouldn’t do. Like a number of other major concerns in the equine footcare world, the best solutions have continued to change over the years.

In almost an instant, this devastating disease can knock a show or performance horse out of commission for many months due to the development of extremely painful hoof concerns.

White line disease is a worldwide problem, although it’s much more prevalent in warm, wet climates. It affects shod as well as unshod feet and can occur in horses housed under even the most stringent and carefully managed sanitary conditions.

While the cause of the disease has never been totally defined, it seems to be caused by a combination of fungus and bacteria that become opportunistic invaders of the hoof. 

This eGuide documents four totally different cases where a white line disease scenario can occur. What each of these cases have in common is the fact that the final verdict turned out to be white line disease.

This disease is no newcomer to hoof-care professionals. 

In fact, Dollar and Wheatley described it back in 1898 in their now famous Handbook of Horse-Shoeing textbook. Even though the condition was not very common in those days, it burst onto the scene in North America in the mid-1980s when many farriers thought the start of an epidemic was underway. Since that time, it’s become a growing concern for more farriers, trainers, veterinarians and horse owners. 

Since heat and humidity seem to be a major cause, the disease is often more of a concern in southern areas of the country. But if you’re living in a northern area, don’t for a second think you’ll be lucky enough to avoid this problem ... even if it’s just a seasonal concern.

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The white line disease scenario can begin in several ways...

  • After pulling the shoes and trimming the foot, you notice a small cavity just inside the white line. When you scratch the area with a nail, a powder-like substance falls out in your hand.
  • With a horse that has a hoof wall separation in the most distal part of the foot, probing this area makes you realize that not only is the area separated at the bottom, but it also moves up much higher on the hoof.
  • In another scenario, you may have a horse with intermittent lameness concerns. The legs look good, the bottom of the foot looks good and there’s no bad response when you evaluate the foot with hoof testers. But when you tap on the hoof wall, you hear a hollow sound. A later radiograph reveals a cavity in the hoof.

What does each of these cases have in common? 

Certainly the possibility of a devastating white line disease problem.

Some of the brightest minds in the hoof-care industry have come together to share their experiences with white line disease in this report. Their field-proven prevention and treatment tips and techniques are yours to use once you download this 8-page eGuide. This FREE guide provides details on the background of white line disease, practical advice for dealing with the disease, critical prevention and treatment lessons and much more that is all yours with just the click of a mouse.

By now, I’m sure you realize the kind of value this report can have with the management of problem horses. This downloadable eGuide details the anatomy of white line disease and offers a step-by-step understanding of what goes on in a foot where this disease is a concern. In addition, this eGuide zeroes in on dos and don’ts when it comes to treating the disease. 

No quick, easy answers.

While a hoof wall separation can certainly lead to white line disease, this does not automatically lead to the expected situation. However, disinfecting the hoof cavities and then packing them with antifungal or antibacterial products before shoeing is certainly called for.

Removing the hoof wall (debriding) over the affected area is the accepted method of treating white line disease. The eGuide spells out several ways of undertaking this procedure and offers step-by-step instructions for getting air to the affected cavity. 

When it comes to shoeing, you’ll learn why a shoe must provide needed caudal frog support along with a blunted, pulled back and rolled toe so the impact of the lever arm is decreased in the damaged toe area.

The eGuide shows you how to differentiate the severity of white line disease cases by classifying the amount of hoof detachment on a three-grade scale. Detailed instructions are outlined in this valuable eGuide for dealing differently with each white line disease severity grade.

Seven different cases of white line disease — and how to specifically deal with each of them — are described in full detail.

No magical cures.

While dozens of products on the market claim success in treating white line disease, there are no easy solutions. Some products may help in decreasing the number of pathogens, but are unlikely to be able to penetrate through the affected areas and reach the active decaying sites.

So watch out for some of the wild claims made when product-marketing materials maintain you can kill the organisms causing white line disease without debriding the hoof wall.

There are many options for treating that white line disease condition that may show up at the most unfortunate time with a few horses that you work with on a regular basis. This is why it’s so important to have this valuable report to help you choose wisely and cautiously the next time you have to deal with these devastating situations.

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Yours for better hoof care,

Frank Lessiter
Editor, American Farriers Journal

P.S. Many white line disease treatment failures are due to costly mistakes made before anyone knows the reality of the problem. Find out why and how to avoid these concerns by downloading “White Line Disease: Different Approaches To An Old Problem” so you will be fully prepared when a case of white line disease shows up in your daily work.

P.P.S. Not all white line disease situations are created equal. In this eGuide, you’ll learn the latest treatment protocols to deal with various white line disease situations. Regardless of how the disease develops, you’ll be ready with a well-thought-out plan to remedy the situation after downloading this eGuide.


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