White Hooves - a Misunderstanding?

So the old poem goes:

One white foot, buy him.
Two white feet, try him.
Three white feet, be on the sly.
Four white feet, pass him by.

Did we maybe misunderstand what people where trying to tell us by this? I've looked long and hard to find any evidence that white hoof wall is in any way lesser than black hoof wall and still found nothing apart from old wives tales. To say that unpigmented horn is weaker is like saying that unpigmented fur or hair is weaker, and I've never heard anyone say that their white horse's tail breaks more easily or is crappier than their black horse's tail - it really makes no sense.
So.... what have we missed?

The answer came to me last night when I was talking to the vet. Greasy heel!
Horses that have white socks are more prone to this than horses who have pigmented skin/hair, even on an individual horse the greasy heel is more likely to occurr on a white sock than one without. The vet went on to explain to me that the sun plays a part in the process of a greasy heel infection. Often it can start by a small sunburn, photosensitivity or an allergy, this in turn becomes itchy or will leave open areas of skin - perfect for an infection! Add to this concotion wet weather or dewy grass and we have everything we need for the perfect incubator: heat, damp, protection and food!

What can we do to help prevent this quite common infection?
* Reduce the effect of the sun - we can help with this by using fly boots, which are made from shade-cloth material so will reduce the UV on the area and lessen the chance of burn. In some situations this may not be viable as it may increase the humidity of the pastern area. Alternatively putting zinc or sun cream onto the back of the pasterns will also reduce the chance of a burn.
* Reduce the damp - I know it's impossible to change the weathe ror stop the dew, but we can reduce how much stays on our horse and how quickly it dries. Clip out the back of the pastern from heel the fetlock so there is little hair there to trap damp. When there's lots of hair on the pastern it can create it's own little micro-climate, warm and damp and protective for any infection - lose the hair, lose the climate. This also makes it heaps easier to put suncream or zinc on.

Once you have an infection there it is important that you are very consistent with treatment. The scabs will need to be removed to start the healing process, and the skin will need to be kept supple. There are a million and one treatments out there for greasy heel, but when push comes to shove, talk to your vet, as your vet will probably know what treatments will work best in your area and situation.

No Hoof... No Horse :Sole Guard

I like to try things, so I can understand what they CAN do and their limitations. So last trimming we decided to see if some Sole guard would help improve the seperation my horse has in her hind hooves. It was just a temporary measure, as the trimmer was getting to the point where he was running out of options to help get her hinds back on track!

This is her hoof all prepared for the sole guard. See the "ditch (white area) between her outer hoof wall ( grey) and her sole ( dirt coloured atm). This is the area the trimmer has been trying to get to "heal". Also notice in this horse the vertical toe-line where her sole and wall connect, this shows drastic change in her hooves. I should have done something about this sooner!!!! No ones perfect and we trust in our professionals.
That green nstuff I hear you ask? It's blue tack. Under the blue tack is some copper sulfat ewhich has been put into small cavities that had formed. Left unattended they could have become abscesses. Why blue tack? Just in case all the yuck hadn't been removed it's easy to pull out and clean up.

Sole guard is like a rubbery plastic stuff, that comes out liquid and sets into a semi-solid. The SG was put into the "ditch" and covered in a special plastic sheet while it set.

Once dried, the plastic can be removed and the area cleaned up. I will state this is NOT the intended use of sole guard, which s generally used on the.. you guessed it... soles! We were just using it as fake hoof, to see if it worked. I've been told it's a great product, we were just trying to cheat.

Sole guard, used in the proper way, should last a few weeks, depending on your environment and how much you ride. This lasted about a week, and made her no worse or better off for the time it stayed in there. Back to the drawing board eh?

Another trimmer came by to do a different horse, so I asked him what he though we could do?
He was amazed that we'd tried this, and thought it to be a waste of time ( and money..grrr). He felt that putting stuff in there would make it worse rather than better, and suggested to put a roll to reduce the chance of her doing more damage as she rolled over her toe which was currently flat. He explained it like fingernails:
Think of the horses sole as the tip of your finger, and the wall like your nail, in this analogy the quick is the same as the laminae boundary ( sensitive to insensitive). When you "walk" with your finger, you will roll from the pad through the tip and onto your nail. If your nail is too long it will pull back painfully on your quick, this is akin to seperation of the sensitive to insensitive laminae, commonly called "white line seperation". That's YOUR finger which is not weight bearing...... think about it for the horse. Makes a little bit of sense doesn't it?

Hooves rolled ( nice guy did it for free for me! So he could explain it totally), and she walks off pretty well. Weight bearing has been reduced from the walls and increased onto the sole callous. She's great in the arena, and on the grass, still a little tender on the driveway ( gravelly on a hard clay surface). There's improvement, but I'd like to see more....
....the quest is on to find the better way for this horse!!!

Like to learn more about hooves?

http://www.hoofrehab.com/

http://www.uq.edu.au/~apcpolli/

http://www.farriervet.com/evolutionfarriery.html

Horse-Eating Showtime!!!

When you go to a competition or Pony Club and your horse behaves badly what do you blame it on?
I can guarentee you the number one answer to that is FEED, well that's the number one answer that comes out of most people's mouths when I speak to them. "My horse's feed needs to be cut because he was a moron at the Show on Sunday".....
I would love to slap them around, unfortunately that would get me fired.
IF your horse is a bit hyper at a show, but perfectly sensible at home here are a few non-feed related things to tick off your list that may be causing the problem:

*Your horse's paddock companion has been removed from the situation and now your horse is trying feverishly to find him/her. This happens a lot in Pony Club horses who are constantly stabled/paddocked with one other horse. You'll need to take measures to acclimatise your horse to the thought that the world does not implode when his/her friend is removed from the situation. Start small (seperate paddock or move across the breezeway in the barn) and work your way to them not being close to each other for extended periods of time. If you work through this slowly it will be a great acheivement for you both.

* YOU are stressed out. Often people will say the show doesn't frighten them, most of the time we are a little nervous or excited. The horses see this as the same sort of emotion - your senses are heightened and you are alert. To them you are getting ready for a flight or fight response, and as part of your herd, they consider this to be a cue for THEM to prepare. Try to calm yourself, I know a lot of people who use rescue remedy on themselves rather than on their horses ( or as well as) to bring their own mind to peace, which in turn allows them to be a leader, rather than a panic striken insano bomb.... well that's how your horse will see you!

*New situations will often frighten a horse, so be prepared to work through their anxiety by making these outings a part of their routine. Get some friends together and take the horses to the local show-grounds ( first making sure you are allowed to do this at the chosen time), get a lesson at someone else's property or just take your pony for a float ride that ends in some nice grass. Let them understand that although the PLACE may change the CUES for work will not, and most importantly that your behaviour does not either. It has to be the same at home as it is anywhere, after a while it won't matter if you were doing a grand prix test down the median strip of an 8 lane highway or at home in the arena.

*We get a little touchy if we have to change our schedule, our horses are no different. On a show day, you will do all sorts of odd things to them, so make that part a daily thing. Plait up their manes before you ride, braid their forelock while they eat ( take it back out before you go), braid their tail and put a falsie in and have a lesson or lunge, come stupidly early once a week and feed up at 4am while you fuss around them. These things then will become normal for the horse and when you do go out and about will desensitise them to these annoyances, so that you have minimalised the stress factor!

Think about all these things.... then take a look at how the horse will perceive it all. We just see it as a competition, but to the horse it may mean a lot of different things. Try to be their center, and prepare them rather than just dropping them in the fire, or deciding that a little bit of starvation should quiet them up.