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  Discussion on Quarter Cracks
Author Message
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 6:42 pm:

3rd time is a charm. My computer puts in an automatic subject and then I delete it and change it and then post and for some reason it puts the auto subject back in. Sorry for all the wrong posts.

DrO do you have any pictures of really bad quarter cracks, I need some reference pics cause i have no clue what it is I'm observing on a certain horse.

I recently went and checked on my horse out at a friends pasture, and one of the guys pregnant mares had a crack in two of her feet that went all the way up the side of the hoof and past the coronet band onto the foot. Im not sure what type of crack it is but I think its a quarter I've never seen anything like this. I told the man previously if the mare throws an appy this spring, I will buy it from him, but i'm worried about the mare making it till June. She doesn't seem to be in pain but she just waddles around the pasture in pregnant mare fasion. But this looks pretty nasty I thought of asking him if I can bring this mare to my place and treat the feet so she will have her baby ok. She is a really nice mare, but the guy is a typical cowboy leave the horses alone if it requires more than a trim put it down.

Any suggestions?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 6:41 am:

That is a quarter crack. There is a description in the article on quarter cracks Cheryl and there can be a number of different causes. Whatever the cause it is going to take regular foot care and perhaps specialized shoeing to cure. I presume she is lame since the crack goes above the wall. If so you need to convince him that it is not fair to ignore a treatable lameness, particularly since it might only take good regular trimming.
DrO
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 8:39 am:

We had a mare we got out of KY that had her front feet split so bad that they were almost cloven. They also gave her cause to be sore on them. Our farrier first trimmed the feet and cleaned any dirt out of the cracks. We applied tea tree oil on the cracks daily for a week as I recall. This was to kill any bacteria. He shod both front feet, the back ones were cracked but not to this extent. He applied shoes with clips to hold the feet together. We fed Horseman's Secret and Farrier's Choice, depending on what we could get.
This was February of 2004. We were able to breed her in March, she settled and will foal early March 2005 to Basket Weave. Her feet grew out and now she doesn't need shoes. Along the way though, we changed farriers and the second one applied some bondo on the cracks as she kept losing her shoes and that did the final trick. Good Luck. It is a long process but care and nutrition will prevail. EO
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 12:51 pm:

If left alone at pasture what will happen to these cracks?Will it progress to the point the horse will be dead lame and put down without intervention? She is due in june, do you think she will be ok till then if the guy doesn't want to treat her?

With good foot care and lots of time will the crack grow out? I've never seen such a thing before and it is a little disturbing. I guess some people don't value broodmares just the offspring.

We have a real shortage of fariers mine comes from oregon to wyoming, and I don't expect him till the end of march maybe. I've done minor trims but thats all, can I topically treat till I can get help? I will talk to the guy and see if he will do something or let me bring the mare in and treat at my cost. I really want the baby if it is an appy she had a black foal with spots last year someone stepped on it and it had to be euthanized.

Sorry for all the jumbled thoughts. My hamster wheel is spinning fastly.

LKR tell me more about the bondo how it was done?
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 2:37 pm:

They will keep getting worse until she can't walk. I thought we might lose the mare when I first saw her but get shoes on immediately to hold the feet together. She will show an improvement in how she feels immediately since her feet won't hurt. How does your fingernail feel when it get a split? Same thing. EO
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 3:26 pm:

how did your farrier do the bondo, did he just use the cement or did they use some mesh, did you have to keep the horse still for drying time?
Member:
Christos

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 4:59 pm:

Trimming the hooves to whatever balance you can achieve under the circumstances sounds better than letting it be, Cheryl.
Massaging the coronet twice daily promotes blood supply and the crack will grow out of the hoof faster than normal. You can aid this further with a mildly irritating ointment.
If there's a dairy farm nearby, ask for that ointment they rub the cow's nipples with. It smells like menthol or eucalyptus and it works well.
The cement dries in less than a minute. I am worried, however, that the dried cement will have the shape of a wedge within the crack. If it gets repeatedly hit on it's base, it may come unglued and split the hoof even worse. So if you fill the crack with cement, you need to put a shoe on as well.
Cementing a mesh on the outside sounds like a better solution, but I've never tried it.
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 5:07 pm:

DrO in one of your articles you mentioned someone using a muffler clamp on a bad crack, do you have any pics of it.

from what I could see of the horse the crack was pretty bad but she wasn't cloven or seperated bad. We have pretty bad ice around here, it would be pretty dangerous to put shoes on a pregnant mare if she would allow such a thing but I do know she let me fuss with it to get a good look. The odds of me finding someone who could do anything like this are slim.

could you put screws in the hoof itself and do a wire in a figure 8 around the screw to secure?

If you have any pics of corrective messures and instuctions/tools for this problem it would be a great help. I may end up doing what I can by myself.
Member:
Christos

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 5:36 pm:

Screws and lockwire are possible, Cheryl, but you need x-rays to see the wall's thickness. Should not attempt it without a vet, I believe, and it is too drastic a measure anyway.
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 5:44 pm:

No mesh. It came in a tube. Stuff they use on cars I believe. It dries in minutes. EO
Member:
Suzeb

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 5:46 pm:

IMHO Cheryl, I might just shut my eyes and close my heart on this one, unless you are prepared financially, emotionally and have the time on your hands to see this through.
It is so unfortunate for this poor mare that she has to go through a pregnancy on top of LAME feet.

Have you talked to your friend about this boarder?

The million dollar question I have (and you don't have to answer) is: Who will look after the mare after she delivers a foal that may or may not be an Appy?

I hope you have thought this through Cheryl and I don't mean to be harsh.

I do feel for this mare, who is pregnant and doesn't have very good feet to stand on.

Susan B.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 12, 2005 - 8:25 am:

Cheryl the evaluation of the foot and these procedures do need to be done with experienced help. If you are going to take this on you need the help of a good farrier or you may end up doing more harm than good.
DrO
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 12:27 pm:

Thanks all,

I can't get a farrier out till the end of march. Until then we will see what can be done as far as triming and soaking. I 've been out sick so haven't been able to talk to the gentleman. I'll take the baby spots or no spots, but as for the mare who knows. I'd like to say I'd keep her but I only have room for one more horse. If we get her feet taken care of, I think she will be ok. Pasture horses always end up with nasty feet especially this time of year I just think with the weather, and being winter she has just been out of site out of mind. Its been hard to see their feet in all the snow and mud.
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