I'm looking for help with Rego, my 19y/o Percheron cross who has severe white line separation, rotation and descent on his RF.  (He has compensated IR and is on tested hay, custom mineral blend by HorseTech as balanced by Dr Kathleen, and other supps as listed in his Case History).  My trimmer is new and has minimal experience with barefoot laminitis rehab.  He is a farrier who is open to learning and I've discussed that I'd be posting here for help.  I've asked that he visit the website to see what we're all about.  He will be coming for our next trim on Thursday, 9/20 (last trim 9/6).  Rego has been on a 4 week trim cycle since he came to me in 2014.  He has a history of white line disease, rotation and descent (2013) and he abscessed in 2016 and 2019 (see Case History).

On 8/1, Rego developed severe swelling in his sheath and was diagnosed with pigeon fever.  He became lame in the RF approximately 8/5 and abscessed in RF on 8/10.  He became severely lame on the LF around 8/10 and that abscessed around 8/15.  The sheath abscessed on 8/12.  He became less and less lame on both fronts but a huge crevasse in the white line was revealed at a trim.  I was hesitant to soak in Clean Trax and treat with No Thrush (my usual) because I just didn't want to add any moisture in there, so I chose to clean it well, use a bit of No Thrush and pack it with Artimud.  I wasn't sure that the trim was optimal for this condition and I wasn't confident that the coffin bone was ok.  I asked the vet for xrays which revealed the depth of the hole in the white line, rotation and descent.  The vet advised a resection of dorsal hoof wall up to the point of healthy tissue.  I discussed this with my trimmer who was concerned about Rego's thin sole and a raised area on the sole near the toe where possibly the tip of the coffin bone resided.  He feared that removing all of that dorsal wall would put too much pressure on the rotated bone and it would puncture the thin sole.  It made sense to me.....  but I also knew that we were fostering a nice little home for bacteria to flourish so it wasn't ideal.  (I guess that I can insert here that Rego and I have battled WLD since I met him.  Winters are a struggle to keep him clean and dry.  In the 4 weeks prior to this founder, the previous trimmer requested hoof soaks in softening products 3 times in that 4 week time frame in preparation for trimming and he was a no-show all 3 times which, I believe, contributed to the underlying and unnoticed WLD.  Perfect storm for disaster).

The vet continues to want the resection and I'm becoming more concerned about packing and creating the bacteria condo.  (I love this Artimud and I have to say that when I take it out to change it, there's no funky smell in the hole and no black stuff on the pick - so I'm hoping that it's working).  I measured the hole today and at its deepest, it is approximately 1 5/8" deep from the sole.  There's probably another 1/2" of hoof wall beyond the sole.  I talked with the trimmer on the 9/6 visit and he agreed to take about 1/2-3/4 inch off at an area of about 10:00-2:30 (with the toe being 12:00).  Rego has maintained soundness with that trim which now makes me feel like maybe he could handle losing more toe and dorsal wall if that is what is recommended here.  

I would be so grateful if you could please provide markups and advice for us.  

Valletta and Rego in CA
2012
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Valletta%20and%20Rego/Rego%20Case%20History.pdf
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=279335

And I just realized that my hoof photos are dated wrong....sheesh!  I took all of those today.  I will work on renaming tomorrow - my apologies.

Valletta

Hi Valletta,

Poor boy, he's been having a bit of a rough time lately.

Based on the rads, the trim can take a lot of that toe away. There is also a  lot of flaring all the way around, which is part of the the white line issues you are seeing. Because he is an IR horse, all discussions - including hoof ones - should remain on the main ECIR group.

I can get you mark-ups for his next trim but it would be helpful if you could provide a full set of photos for all four feet, as trim issues are rarely confined to only one foot. Here's what's needed:

https://ecir.groups.io/g/main/wiki/1472

The lateral and dorsal shots should include the cannon bones and Rego should be standing as squarely as possible on the foot being photographed. Only need the dorsal, lateral, sole and sole plane for each one. Just post to the main group once the pix are up.

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Lavinia
Jan 2005, RI

Moderator/ECIR Support

Thank you so much, Lavinia.  I will get to work on this in the morning.  Apologies that I didn’t post to the correct group.  Should I copy the entire post to the main group or just refer to this one?

valletta

No problem, Valletta.

Either way is fine regarding this post.

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Lavinia
Jan 2005, RI

Moderator/ECIR Support