What is the white line of a hoof?

What is the white line of a hoof?

The white line is the thin, “whitish” area between the outside hoof wall and where it meets the sole. It can be seen by picking up the foot looking at the sole of the hoof without the shoe, around an 1/8” thickness. To farriers, it’s the area nails are driven to hold a shoe on.

Is white line disease painful?

Symptoms of White Line Disease The initial stages are non-painful. Often the farrier is the first to detect white line disease during a routine trimming or shoeing procedure.

How do you know if your horse has a white line?

The white line of the foot can be seen by looking at the sole of your horse’s hoof. The area (that looks whitish) between the outside hoof wall and where it meets the sole is the white line. When this becomes damaged, it allows fungus and/or bacteria to invade and separate the layers of the hoof wall.

How is white line disease diagnosed?

White line disease may be diagnosed during a routine trimming when a farrier notices a small area of crumbly or powdery black or gray tissue at the white line. Paring away the damaged horn reveals separation of the hoof layers leading upward from the toe toward the coronary band.

How do you know if your horse has white line disease?

White line disease is characterized by progressive hoof wall separation that occurs in the non-pigmented horn of the hoof at the junction between the stratum medium (middle layer of the hoof capsule) and laminar horn. The separation is usually progressive, and it typically involves the toe and quarters of the hoof.

Is white line disease fatal?

The reality is that deeply rooted infections like white line disease and chronic thrush are nearly impossible to kill with one application of a strong topical agent. Bacteria and fungi are very adept at hiding among healthy hoof tissue due to millions of years of evolution.