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Discussion on Surface cracks
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Member:
Maggienm
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Posted on Saturday, May 21, 2005 - 10:34 am:
I have a gelding who has surface cracks that over winter have traveled up to the coronet band.
I am calling them surface cracks but I don't rreally know when a surface crack stops being surface and starts being a crack.
I am concerned that with steady riding over summer that the cracks will worsen, so would shoes help prevent that?
Thaks
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 6:20 am:
Lori!
Cracks must be dealt with before they reach the coronet. Why watch them grow? Most times a good trim is all that's needed to stop them.
You can check their depth with a feeler gauge or a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil.
If the horse is not lame, chances are that a good farrier will balance the hooves so that shoes are not necessary, but I generally prefer to shoe them until cracks have grown out of the hoof (I am not a farrier, let alone a good one).
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 9:11 am:
There are many reasons feet crack Lori. We discuss the various causes, ways that they look different to help determine cause, and treatments in the article, Equine Diseases » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Poor Horn Quality: problems with the wall and soles. See if any of them look familiar.
DrO
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New Member:
Unicorn
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Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 7:02 pm:
Hi Lori I see a lot of this sort of thing with cracks, you just need a good trimmer to do a good trim.
You can stop cracks like that without burning them or any major work. The cracks are just telling you the foot is not trimmed to the right shape. The cracks form when ever the stresses on the hoof wall are excessive in the wrong direction.
From the time the foot is trimmed correctly you can see the crack stops growing, it then will grow out as the correct growth happens.
If horses feet are designed to cope with 160km of rough terrain in less than 10 hours without shoes nailed on then cracks are just a sign of bad trimming.
Regards
Darren
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