Check Out The Toe

I see lots of these problems with the toe that’s on the cover of the July/ August issue of American Farriers Journal. I have a hard time explaining them and getting rid of the “spot.”

I don’t call it an infection as that would unduly worry the owner, but I don’t really have an explanation. I generally explain that the horse has a weak spot that some bacteria bug or organism is taking advantage of. The weakness may have been caused by long toes (or long quarters if the spot is in the quarters) that stretched the laminae in that area, allowing organisms to get into the hoof. 

I’ve tried a number of techniques to solve the problem. The ones that have worked require too much time and too much  danger. In fact, one of these horses that I worked on recently went lame on that foot, so now I’m not too thrilled with using that same treatment again, which may or may not have lamed her.

One of the vets in our area suggested drilling a hole in the outside wall of the hoof capsule far enough up the wall to be above where the rot of the weakness has gotten to and open the hole as much as needed. He felt the hoof wall would grow down. The rot would be separated from the new laminae and the new hoof wall would not be infected

On the July/August cover, this spot hasn’t created a…