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avulsions and cracks.
by esco buff, phd, apf-i, cf



Hoof Avulsions and Hoof Cracks are identified by their location – toe, quarters, heel.


Hoof crack is any crack, vertical or horizontal, in the hoof wall. Causes can be from abscesses, damage, environmental, injury, imbalances, environmental, nutritional, weakness…


Avulsions are a tearing away of a structure.




Treatment


- Depth, Length and Origin dictate farrier treatment options.


- Remove insult.


- Stabilize the area if needed by best farrier means available.


- Debride in all cases in order to remove potential further damage and to expose to oxygen.


- Do not patch unless absolutely necessary as you can create an environment for bacteria to flourish in.


- The laminae needs to be cleaned up every two weeks with a Dremel. Treat with an antimicrobial medicine.



avulsion and crack pictures





Avulsions due to overgrown hooves (left) and injury (right).



Avulsions due to overgrown hooves that was able to be trimmed out.



Racehorse heel crack.



Race horse heel crack and repair.





Attending to an Avulsion caused by injury of hoof on gate.



Avulsion repair. Hoof was removed (upper left), hoof trimmed and
shod (bottom left) and Hoof five weeks later upon return (right).



Avulsion case 18 weeks later (left) and 5 months later and able to go bare (right).



seedy toe (a misused word)
by esco buff, phd, apf-i, cf



Seedy toe is a separation of the horse’s hoof wall from the underlying sensitive laminae at the white line, resulting in a cavity which fills with substrate, environment, debris and is prone to infection.


Seedy toe only affects the white line and therefore only reaches a height of the sole juncture.


Seedy toe is an anaerobic bacterial infection.




Treatment for Seedy Toe


Debride in all cases in order to expose to oxygen.


Treat with an antibacterial product, especially if being covered by a shoe/cast/boot. Just treating with a product will not get down into the bacterial infected area in most cases.


Do not patch unless absolutely necessary as you’re created a bacterial environment for the seedy toe to flourish in.


The laminae needs to be cleaned up every two weeks with a Dremel.



seedy toe pictures





A sagittal cut of a hoof showing how the white line is the attachment of the hoof wall to the sole and therefore only goes as high as the sole juncture.



The start of Seedy Toe (areas marked with arrows).



stratum exterium separation
by Esco Buff, phd, apf-i, cf



Stratum Exterium Separation is a separation of the hoof wall in the outer most layer of the hoof wall and the pigmented area of the Stratum Medium.


Stratum Exterium Separation is not the same as the genetic Hoof Wall Separation Syndrome (hwss) in Connemara’s.


It usually does not create any lameness issues, however it can make attaching devices to the hoof wall more complicated.


The causes are unknown but suspect are environmental, autoimmune or nutritional issues that cause conditions affecting the outer hoof wall attachment.


The separation in the hoof wall is a delaminating process.


Very rarely does opportunistic bacteria/fungi invade it and cause any abscessing, infections or lameness issues.


It appears to work its way up blowing out someplace up the hoof outer wall. It forms sometimes a straight line but more often a C or V shape when it erupts.



stratum exterium separation pictures





Area of the hoof wall that is affected. The outer layer or stratum exterium and the pigmented area of the stratum medium.



Stratum Exterium Separation pictures (upper left, lower left, lower right) and an example on a Connemara of HWSS - Hoof Wall Separation Syndrome (upper right).



More examples of Stratum Exterium Separation and showing the outer separation of the stratum of the hoof.



A sagittal cut of a hoof showing Stratum separation.



White Line Disease or Onychomycosis
(a misused word)
by esco buff, phd, apf-i, cf



White line disease is a misnomer, as the white line is not actually involved, but rather the deepest layer of the non-pigmented stratum medium.


White line disease is characterized by progressive hoof wall separation that occurs in the non-pigmented horn of the hoof at the junction between the stratum medium (middle layer of the hoof capsule) and laminar horn.


The separation is usually progressive, and it typically involves the toe and quarters of the hoof.


White line disease is a fungal infection.




Treatment


Debride in all cases in order to expose to oxygen.


Needs to be correctly and thoroughly debrided.


Remove all the whitish cheesy infected medium.


Do not patch unless absolutely necessary as you’re created a bacterial environment for the seedy toe to flourish in.


The laminae needs to be cleaned up every two weeks with a Dremel.


Treat with an antifungal medicine.



White line disease or onychomycosis pictures





Areas of the hoof that are affected by White Line Disease or Onychomycosis.



White Line Disease case with area completely debrided.



Note that infections goes much higher than the sole juncture so this is not Seedy Toe rather White Line Disease or Onychomycosis.



An incomplete resection as there is still infected material on edges (left).
Hoof wall separation, not White Line Disease (right).




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