Catching WLD Early

[tbloomer]

These are pics of a Percheron mare that I worked on a few days ago. The shoeing job was 4 weeks old. Customer bought the horse at a draft horse auction - she came with this shoeing job. Horse has been turned out in wet mud for 3 weeks.

First set of images here. Next set in next post.
http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/Fronts Before.jpg
http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/Hinds Before and After.jpg
http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/LF Bottom Before.jpg
http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/LF Bottom Trimmed.jpg

You can see the beginnings of WLD around the nail holes and especially in the areas that were covered by the acrylic. Most of the acrylic had fallen off already. Notice what has happened to the periople due to slogging around in deep mud. I trimmed off all the loose periople so that it would not tear off and damage the coronary band.

Pics of LF were taken in series as I trimmed the hoof. Black arrows show where WLD is growing inside of wall where the hoof is flared, originally covered with acrylic, and also pierced by a nail. My chemical of choice for killing WLD fungus is Merthiolate (Mersol). Note the change from pink to green when the chemical comes in contact with necrotic tissue. The color goes back to pink when it dries.

Fortunately I got this case early before it turned into something more serious. IMHO, putting shoes back on this horse would have been a mistake. The owner is returning in 2 weeks for me to inspect the feet to make sure that no further deterioration has occurred. Usually when I catch it this early, a single treatment with Merthiolate stops the fungus from progressing ****her.

I got the idea of using Merthiolate from the writings of the late Burney Chapman. I use it as a nail hole disinfectant and as an antifungal treatment under any kind of acrylic or urethane patch, pad, etc. I've never had any fungus grow under a patch where I have used Merthiolate to coat the area before applying the patching material. As long as you dry the surface with a heat gun before patching or pouring in a pad, the Merthiolate does not interfere with bonding.

If you want to try Merthiolate, it is available from Centaur Forge.

I’ll follow up with more pictures in a few weeks. Maybe the next time I’ll build a set of shoes and nail ‘em on. Then y’all can critique my foot work.

Tom Bloomer, CF

[tbloomer]

Next set of images here.

http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/LF Bottom Merthiolate.jpg
http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/LF Medial Wall Dressed.jpg
http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/Fronts After.jpg
http://users.snip.net/~bloomer/LH WLD in Flare.jpg

Tom Bloomer, CF

[Gary Hill]

That ain't like the WLD I've seen. That looks like shelly feet and alittle thrush. WLD we get goes about 3 inches up the whiteline and is cheezie,more of a separation of the wall. Creates large cavities that require resection of the wall to expose. If what you are seeing is WLD then about 80% of my clientel has it. Thrush runs amuck around here! Best, Gary

[tbloomer]

That ain't like the WLD I've seen. That looks like shelly feet and alittle thrush. WLD we get goes about 3 inches up the whiteline and is cheezie,more of a separation of the wall. Creates large cavities that require resection of the wall to expose. If what you are seeing is WLD then about 80% of my clientel has it. Thrush runs amuck around here! Best, Gary
Gary,

This is what WLD looks like in the early stages. Most of the cheeze got rapsped off with the flares. Note the brown spots with the arrows pointing to them in the pic of the LH. Those are areas of stratum medium that contained cheezy crumbling material . . . WLD. This horse had very healthy frogs. No thrush and no smell. And YES, about 80% of the horses you see will have it. Fortunately it never takes hold unless the conditions are right. Regular trimming will expose the infected horn to air and usually the hoof grows faster than it deteriorates.

Sometimes the cheeze is white, sometimes it is brown or grey. Depends on the pigment of the hoof. I've done some pretty serious resections where I had to apply a heart bar shoe with well burned in quarter clips and a single nail in the center of the toe - 'cause that's the only place I had to put a nail.

I've not encountered runaway WLD in horses that are maintained in balance on a regular trimming/shoeing cycle. When it grows way up inside the stratum medium, THAT is runaway WLD.

Tom Bloomer, CF

[Gary Hill]

I don't know ,the worse cases seem to be further south of me along the coast and in LA and through to Fla. I haven't seen but three really bad that I mentioned and they all came up from the coast? Maybe Tom S. can pitch in I bet he has seen alot around Katy? Best, Gary

[Jaye Perry]

This is what WLD looks like in the early stages.
No, this is it what it looks like when the horn wall or hoof wall is not dressed to function properly for a big horse.


Most of the cheeze got rapsped off with the flares. You did good, you try to eliminate the so called mis-proportions of the hoof. You eliminated the "Dead" no good for nothing horn and it's laminar strecching. DEAD horn and laminae will dis-color ,usually brown to black.

Note the brown spots with the arrows pointing to them in the pic of the LH.Usually denotes a bad case of right handed farriers disease. Bad trimming will cause "DEAD" horn that will ac***ulate bacteria, fungi, and anaerobes that are mistaken for white line infection.

Those are areas of stratum medium that contained cheezy crumbling material . . . WLDBad flaring, trimming and dressing of the foot, will stretch laminae; invasion will occur and mistaken cause will confuse the customer and others.


This horse had very healthy frogs. No thrush and no smell. And YES, about 80% of the horses you see will have it. .....Sometimes the cheese is white, sometimes it is brown or grey.
Horses will endure most man made incidentals. The "Cheeze" or "Cheez It" will be eliminated with trimming and dressing protocols. Something that your CF should have taught ya. True White Line Disease will be a small black line between the horn and sensitive laminae connection that will be in the connection that will not be eliminated unless the wall is dremeled or resected.



Tom Bloomer, CFAnother certified , paper waving certificate holding horseshoer.

BTW, My New Years resolution is over, "I'M Back", let's Dance!!

[Jaye Perry]

You did good, you try to eliminate the so called mis-proportions of the hoof. You eliminated the "Dead" no good for nothing horn and it's laminar strecching. DEAD horn and laminae will dis-color ,usually brown to black.

Usually denotes a bad case of right handed farriers disease. Bad trimming will cause "DEAD" horn that will ac***ulate bacteria, fungi, and anaerobes that are mistaken for white line infection.
......


Over grown foot with extended flares and invasion of anerobes into the strecthing-- I think So!!!!!

[Jaye Perry]

........Horses will endure most man made incidentals. The "Cheeze" or "Cheez It" will be eliminated with trimming and dressing protocols. Something that your CF should have taught ya. True White Line Disease will be a small black line between the horn and sensitive laminae connection that will be in the connection that will not be eliminated unless the wall is dremeled or resected.
.....


Feet will flare, they will lose shoes, the strongest parts of the foot will remain.... Don't think it's white line, just lack of knowledge of foot function.

[tbloomer]

Horses will endure most man made incidentals. The "Cheeze" or "Cheez It" will be eliminated with trimming and dressing protocols. Something that your CF should have taught ya. True White Line Disease will be a small black line between the horn and sensitive laminae connection that will be in the connection that will not be eliminated unless the wall is dremeled or resected.
BTW, My New Years resolution is over, "I'M Back", let's Dance!!

Jay,

FWIW, I don't dance, but I do spar. So let's get on with it. You can educate me and beat me up at the same time. :)

What I am talking about in this thread and showing in the pictures is hydrophilic, anaerobic, horn digesting (fungus/bacteria/chemistry, decomposition . . .) stuff. I'll call it AHDS from now on in order to eliminate confusion between this variety of hoof wall deterioration and True WLD. The places where I see AHDS attacking the horn is in nail holes and cracks of the hoof wall.

I have seen the AHDS accompanied by True WLD (your definition with the thin black line) in several cases where the only solution was debridement. I've done major horn resections on horses where the thin black line extended almost to the coronary band. In those cases the deterioration started around the nail holes or around cracks in the hoof wall and progressed from there until the horn was rotting away. When I see it in the quarters, eventually there is no place left to put a nail.

It is due to my experience with those cases that I began using disinfectants in nail holes and cracks, as a preventative measure, on horses where I saw the hoof wall deteriorating between shoeing appointments. I have tried just about every commercial product, which has been advertised to kill or cure WLD, as a preventative disinfectant. The only product that has given me 100% results in preventing ****her deterioration is Merthiolate.

I have one horse that is very susceptible to AHDS. When I started on this horse I had to resect the quarters up to the top of the nail line. Had to punch my own nail holes or drive very high nails to keep shoes on for several shoeing intervals. If I do not disinfect the nail holes EVERY time I shoe this horse, at the next shoeing the wall has begun to deteriorate and crumble around the nail holes. I've never purposely allowed this condition to go untreated long enough to see if it turns into a case off full blown WLD again. Why take the risk for the sake of experiment?

I have had some horses that went to Florida in the fall and upon returning in the spring had full-blown cases of WLD. After this incident, the owner of these horses began insisting that the farrier she uses in FL disinfect the nail holes at every shoeing. Since these horses have not since been infected (in three years of wintering in FL), is there a possibility that the preventive measures are working?

I've seen several seedy toes that were accompanied by True WLD. I have seen horses that, when I began working on them, had tight crack in the toe, which developed a seedy toe and subsequently became infected with True WLD. Since then I have begun treating all cracks with Merthiolate . . . and none of them have progressed into the horn deterioration stage before they have grown out.

There are some folks who believe that WLD is a problem with the horse's immune system. Yet, to my knowledge, no one has isolated what part of the horse’s immune system is deficient.

The area I work in is very wet, muddy, and high humidity. In the literature I have read, the authors say that high incidence of WLD is associated with these conditions.

It appears to me some horses do not get AHDS or WLD regardless of how severely they are neglected or how poorly they are shod. Even when they live in high moisture areas and filthy muddy paddocks, they seem to be immune to horn infection. Yet another horse on the same farm will rot its feet away . . . just an observation.

In my limited experience with AHDS and WLD I have never seen True WLD develop without starting out in a nail hole or a crack. Even when a horse has deep separation in the quarters due to undressed flares allowed to grow out of control, I have not seen the wall deteriorate unless something penetrated through the wall - like a crack or a nail. Again, this is just an observation.

Since you have made a distinction about what is True WLD, I will respect your definition as long as you can, in addition, define the conditions and precursors, which promote the occurrence of the thin black line. Since you, have, in so many words, contradicted what I have put forth as the beginnings of WLD. I would like to know the following:

1. How does True WLD begin?
2. Is there anything that one can do to prevent True WLD?
3. If AHDS is not a precursor to True WLD, then why do I frequently see ****her wall deterioration when I do not apply a disinfectant?

I hear a bell ringing . . .

Tom Bloomer, CF

[Gary Hill]

I don't know for sure how it starts but I can look in the stall or paddock and figure out real quick the envionment the horse lives in. Unfortunately alot of horseowners get lax on cleaning stalls or at least alot of people I see. If they have a laborer that works for them ,most feet are fine,but not all. Very unusual to see these problems in pasture horses unless they live in a dump which some do. Treatment with merthiolate is most likely the best available. I am one of those accursed people that like to nip this stuff in the bud asap. I and I'm ready for the backlash on this but ,if you want to kill the nasty stuff quickly -ready now- I use Bleach! Funny how it is the ONLY thing that will KILL Staffe! This stuff grows in hospitals and is extremely contagious, and bleach kills it. Same as WLD around here, treat it and it dies. I have never seen where it was too caustic? Heck, Vets use it regularly with good results. So as long as they recommend it I use it and get the results I need. Haven't had a foot fall off yet, and of course it is NOT over used or abused as anything can! Lack of good husbandry is number one with alot of these problems. Oh yeah if you ever get strangles in your barn it is best to wash the whole place with bleach. Anyway whatever works for you ? Best, Gary

[cowboy_bc]

Hi all,

For horses prone to WLD here is what I believe to be (copper plated shoe) a good solution for horses wearing shoes. I have used them with good results but we do live in an area classed as dessert so I can't say I have used hundreds and I have no scientific studies cuz as far as I know this is my own idea.

Kevin

[smitty88]

tom did you get to shoe this horse
or did you just dress him

[tbloomer]

I don't know for sure how it starts but I can look in the stall or paddock and figure out real quick the envionment the horse lives in. Unfortunately alot of horseowners get lax on cleaning stalls or at least alot of people I see. If they have a laborer that works for them ,most feet are fine,but not all. Very unusual to see these problems in pasture horses unless they live in a dump which some do. Treatment with merthiolate is most likely the best available. I am one of those accursed people that like to nip this stuff in the bud asap. I and I'm ready for the backlash on this but ,if you want to kill the nasty stuff quickly -ready now- I use Bleach! Funny how it is the ONLY thing that will KILL Staffe! This stuff grows in hospitals and is extremely contagious, and bleach kills it. Same as WLD around here, treat it and it dies. I have never seen where it was too caustic? Heck, Vets use it regularly with good results. So as long as they recommend it I use it and get the results I need. Haven't had a foot fall off yet, and of course it is NOT over used or abused as anything can! Lack of good husbandry is number one with alot of these problems. Oh yeah if you ever get strangles in your barn it is best to wash the whole place with bleach. Anyway whatever works for you ? Best, Gary

Gary,

Check out Nolvasan (chlorhexidine diacetate) solution. A gallon of the solution dilutes with water to make 50 gallons. It kills bacteria, fungus, viruses, AND it takes the smell off of your hands. However unlike bleach it does not burn healthy tissue. They make it in a surgical scrub and it is a disinfectant that is safe to pour directly on an open wound. I bought a gallon of it two years ago and even after giving some of it to my customers I still have 2/3rds of the gallon left. It works on scratches and rain rot also. In fact the newest OTC products for scratches and rain rot contain Nolvasan.

I haven't tried it as a disinfectant for nail holes because I want to put somethng in there that will stick around for a while. Like bleach, nolvasan only works for a short period of time. Merthiolate seems to stay there killing bad stuff until it grows out. Interesting thing about Merthiolate, I have not found it to be very effective on thrush. The nolvasan does a pretty good job on thrush - especially when you use it to flush out the deep thrush when it gets in between the heel bulbs and infects the digital cushion. It's the only thing that I have been able to use in that area that doesn't burn the horse. For me that makes it a little safer because the horse isn't snatching hos foot away from the pain.

Tom Bloomer, CF

[Tom Stovall, CJF]

tbloomer in gray, deletia

1. How does True WLD begin?

Nobody knows for sure, but the pathogen(s) are thought to be anaerobic.

2. Is there anything that one can do to prevent True WLD?

What the vets at Texas A&N call "WLD" is an infection of the stratum medium, possibly caused by a fungus or several pathogens acting in synergy, characterized by a dry, light colored, powdery residue at the infection site. The name is a misnomer as it does not affect the white line, it affects only the stratum medium. IME, the pathology can be found in both shod and barefooted horses, but is more often found in shod horses; opportunistic, secondary infections are the rule, not the exception; it's far more common in shod horses that are routinely put up with wet feet than with horses kept in any other circúmstances.

3. If AHDS is not a precursor to True WLD, then why do I frequently see ****her wall deterioration when I do not apply a disinfectant?

Damn, I wish I could tell what ****her means. :) As nearly as I can tell, a balanced foot, bedding on fresh pine shavings, and being religiously put up with dry feet are a helluva good prophylactic regimen.

As an aside, I see no need to take a gratuitious shot at anyone who has chosen not to take the AFA's tests. Each of us marches to the beat of his own drummer, and some of us march quite well. On the other hand, I think the tests are a pretty fair indicator that on the day one was tested, one was able to shoe a horse to an arbitrary standard and pass a fairly detailed written exam. Speaking for myself, I figure anybody who can shoe to somebody else's standards is damn sure able to shoe to their own - I know I can. As I see it, the AFA Journeyman Test is a good starting place, not a stopping place, but there's not a farrier on the planet who would not be a better farrier for taking it.

[tbloomer]

[QUOTE=Tom Stovall, CJF]tbloomer in gray, deletia
Damn, I wish I could tell what ****her means. :) As nearly as I can tell, a balanced foot, bedding on fresh pine shavings, and being religiously put up with dry feet are a helluva good prophylactic regimen.
QUOTE]

I'll try it with fonics. FURTHER as opposed ****her. :D

Since I have no control over what conditions the horse lives in . . . I use toxic chemistry as a preventive measure. :)

Cheers,

Tom Bloomer, CCNA

[tbloomer]

As an aside, I see no need to take a gratuitious shot at anyone who has chosen not to take the AFA's tests.

I think that was an emotional reaction to me taking a gratuitous shot at his failure to demonstrate intellectual capacity (reading for comprehension) in a previous thread. Actually I thought I was very polite and respectful about the whole thing. You can read about it in the Political Arena forum under the thread titled "Stop Sending." I haven’t been arrested or indicted . . . lately. :)

Tom Bloomer, CCSE

[tbloomer]

Hi all,

For horses prone to WLD here is what I believe to be (copper plated shoe) a good solution for horses wearing shoes. I have used them with good results but we do live in an area classed as dessert so I can't say I have used hundreds and I have no scientific studies cuz as far as I know this is my own idea.

Kevin
For a year every horseshoe nail that I used was copper plated. I bought my copper plated nails from Ray Steel. It seemed to work, but I also have no scientific studies. I did like the way the copper plated nails drove and they never rusted. However, nailing up an aluminum shoe with copper plated nails is really bad chemistry. Since I began putting a few drops of Merthiolate in every nail hole and every crack, I have not had any significant deterioration in these areas on any horse regardless of the husbandry environment. I also dig out the black gook in separations between the wall and sole and treat that area with Merthiolate before nailing on a shoe.

Although I would like to believe that it is my superior skills in trimming and shoeing that are preventing the horses in my book from getting WLD. I don't have enough years of experience to know that to a comfortable certainty. In addition, since I have gotten consistent, repeatable, results with the chemistry for several years, I am not inclined to fix something that ain't broke.

Tom Bloomer, High School Dropout