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  Discussion on Strange hoof wall defects
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Member:
njen

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 2, 2008 - 12:38 pm:

Everyone I know is at a loss on this one. My TB has recently been getting strange defects in his rear hoof walls. They are indents that look like small (1/2" long) arrowheads and have been appearing mid-way down the hoof in the center. Everyone says it looks like an area where an abscess or gravel popped but I never noticed anything (it takes time for them to grow out from the coronary band) and my horse was never lame. Additionally, at one point he had identical defects in each hoof at the same location! He is stalled half the day, in a field the other half (with 3 other horses). He is not interfering when being ridden. These dents are pretty deep, too. They almost look like someone took an old can opener with the point and dug it into his hoof. Right now he has two dents next to each other on his left hoof and the dent on the right one has since grown out. Does anybody have ANY idea what this could be? I put on a strip of duct tape to see if the damage is occurring outside-in. No verdict yet on that (only been one day). It is just odd.
Member:
canter

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 2, 2008 - 2:52 pm:

Could he be kicking at flies and kicking himself by accident? Given the horrible bug situation this year, here, it is the only off the wall explanation I can think of.
Member:
njen

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 2, 2008 - 4:37 pm:

I guess it's possible but I'm still stumped by the similarity of the dents. It seems he'd have to be whacking his feet into something hard and we can't find anything that would fit. I was checking a farrier-based website and saw someone had posted a similar question but the dents in his horse were pointed downward (my horse's point up). Plus, his horse's dents were occurring on a front and back hoof; mine are only on the back.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - 6:21 am:

Hello Jennifer,
Trauma is the only cause that seems likely and your job is to discover from what. I would like to see a image of the defects.
DrO
Member:
njen

Posted on Saturday, Jul 5, 2008 - 7:49 am:

Thanks DrO. Here are some pictures of the hoof. Looks like my memory was off on the description -they point down, not up.
Member:
njen

Posted on Saturday, Jul 5, 2008 - 7:57 am:

Sorry, DrO. My pictures are larger than the 64kb max. They won't upload. If you have another way for me to send them I'd be happy to. Jennifer
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jul 6, 2008 - 9:18 am:

Hello Jennifer,
We have programs you can download that help you manage image and file size (note they are not the same thing always). You will find them at Help & Information on Using This Site ยป Uploading Images and Files Into a Posting.
DrO
Member:
njen

Posted on Monday, Jul 7, 2008 - 9:06 am:

Hoof Defect
Thanks. Here you go. Do you think whatever is causing it must be sharp or pointed in some way?
I looked all around his stall again and I just don't see anything. Jennifer
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Monday, Jul 7, 2008 - 5:18 pm:

Hmmm. Possibly a vampire with bad aim?

So I see this is the hind hoof. Does he ever sleep curled up, and does he have shoes in front? I suppose if he had some rough clinches on his front feet, he might have dinged his back hoof getting up or down?
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Monday, Jul 7, 2008 - 6:34 pm:

Jennifer,

Do these seem to reoccur periodically? Looking at the pictures, there seems to be an area surrounding the indents that appears to be different than the rest of the foot, almost as if your horse is scalping himself continually with his front feet and wearing down the outside wall surrounding the dents on his hind feet.

He could have hit his coronary band and traumatized it (and it could happen on both hind feet)and these indents are the results of that injury.

I deal with trotters and pacers. Trotters especially are prone to speedycutting and scalping, so I am constantly looking to shoe them away from the problem or cover them up so at least if they do hit themselves, they won't hurt themselves.

I think you might have the right idea with the duct tape, but I'd take it one step further and use some white adhesive tape, if he is hitting himself, I think the white tape would show it more.

Rachelle
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008 - 9:13 am:

The tissue behind the wall that is missing does not look healthy, sort of dried and crumbly, did it appear this way when the wall first came out or has it grown this way with exposure?
DrO
Member:
njen

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008 - 12:29 pm:

He has no shoes on the front so no clinch issues.
I've only noticed these in the past 6 months or so. I think the unusual area around the indents you mention is from when I took off the duct tape. These dents appeared where they are - they did not grow down from the coronary band. And I believe there has not been any real change in the tissue since I noticed them. What should the tissue look like? Thanks again!
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008 - 1:32 pm:

Jennifer,

Just a thought, was he on any type of medication, have a change in feed or environment, or have a fever anytime in the last year that could have compromised the formation of the hoofwall. Maybe the reason you are seeing this appear at this point in the horses hoof is that the healthy part of the foot ( from the coronary band down to just above the dents) is growing out from something that happened quite a while ago. Since the other one grew out ( and has not returned) maybe this one will do the same thing.
Rachelle
Member:
njen

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008 - 1:38 pm:

Rachelle ~ He did change stalls a while back, but that's the only thing I can think of. No fevers or medical issues. He has always had bad feet (flares, thin walls, etc) and has had bouts of abscesses and bruises but not recently. Plus, I really looked hard around the stall to see if there could be a cause for the problem. Maybe I'm just missing it.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 9, 2008 - 7:53 am:

If trauma removed some overlying healthy horn it should have looked like freshly trimmed hoof wall though certainly not as smooth as can be done with a nipper.

It suggests to me that prior to the chunks missing some defect formed creating a weakness under the outer most wall. I would take a clean sharp hoof knife and explore the defect until all unhealthy looking horn is exposed and removed and the edges of the defect smoothed so it will not trap moisture or dirt in the crevasses. If this is a uncomplicated traumatic defect this will require minimal paring. If there is a degenerative process undermining the wall the earlier we discover it, the easier to treat.
DrO
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