Hoof Reconstruction

Because of the destruction that can be caused by white line disease in the hoof of the horse, repair and reconstruction of the hoof may be necessary.

I'm documenting a case study here that clearly illustrates the process of treatment in a severe case of white line disease. This shows the hoof reconstruction process that made a dramatic, overnight difference in this horse's wellbeing and way of going.

This is page 3 in a series of pages on White line disease and Hoof repair and Reconstruction. Click-through links are listed at the end of this page.

Rolex is an 11 year old warmblood. He's a Grand Prix dressage horse, who stands about 17 hands ( 1,72m), and weighs around 1 450lb (650kg).

He'd been lame, on and off, for nearly 2 years, and his careful owners, Roy and Lynn, were beginning to think that this was a problem that couldn't be solved.

Roy and Lynn are meticulous in caring for their horses. They'd kept Rolex's hooves clean, fed him with excellent supplements, taken him to an equine clinic - done all they could to discover the cause of his lameness.

This is a case where 'owner awareness' played a big part. They were sure that there was something that was being missed. Lynn states: 'Early on I suggested that he might have white line disease, but I felt I wasn't being taken seriously.'

The weight support system of the horse is intricate and perfectly balanced. It is a masterpiece of engineering design, involving the hoof wall, the sole, the frog and the laminae. (I discuss this in more detail in the pages on laminitis)

The hoof wall on Rolex's feet deteriorated to the point where he could no longer support his own weight. He was obviously in pain. The white line disease continued its invasion, the horn tissue was consumed, and live laminae were separated from hoof wall.

One of the reasons for shoeing a horse is to help in weight distribution, and a second is to protect the hoof from excess wear and damage. Rolex needed both these benefits - hoof protection and weight distribution.

But it was impossible to put a shoe onto him using the conventional method of securing the horseshoe by nails in the hoof. And shoeing alone would not have solved the real problem.

When I was called in, Rolex could no longer keep shoes on his feet, and he was unable to walk without wearing the boots Lynn had procured for him from America.

The first time I saw Rolex, I felt that he presented the indications and signs of white line disease. I was concerned about the presence of hidden galleries in his hooves, especially in the wall of the left front hoof.

When I considered the height up the hoof that I believed the horn destruction had reached, I was already considering the possibility of hoof reconstruction. But one step at a time - first the essential treatment.