Horizontal Cracks on both front hooves

[JetSonsFun]

Sorry to post about horizontal cracks again as I see there have been other posts, but the other posts I have read have been about 1 hoof, not 2. I rode with a friend today, her horse has a horizontal crack on "both" front feet, about 2 inches long, 1/3 down the hoof wall, in the center of the hoof. He has not been lame at all. One thing I noticed about this horse was the length of his heels, extremely long heels. He also has a horizontal crack in one back foot but we arent sure if he knicked it on something or it has developed. Also, this horse does have arthritis of the hocks and is the process of fusing but is still able to trail ride comfortably. Could the cracks be due to stress of him over compensating for the pain in the back end? He is ready for a reset, I looked at the bottom of his hoof and I noticed something else odd, he almost looks like he has some white line developing back towards the heels of the shoe. I could stick my finger under the shoe at the heels and feel the indent and also could see it was a bit black looking but with the shoe on, I really couldnt get a good look. His bars are also quite long. I hope this is enough information for someone to give me some opinions. The horse's farrier is not very experienced at all, in our area, we are getting a whole new set of rookie farriers and everyone is having one problem or another with their horses feet as these new farriers gain experience. I appreciate any opinions you can give.

[fairweatherforge]

jetsonsfun, you can go back and review the other posts on horizontal cracks. Whether its on one foot or four feet, any interruption in hoof growth at the coronary band will cause a crack. Unless the stress on the foot is causing absecces to pop out at the coronary band, it is unlikely stress is causing cracks.

You'll have to wait for the horse to be reset to see if there is any bacteria or anything else that needs to be tended to.

[Gary Hill]

Sounds like the newbies are leaving the heels too long and most likely takeing too much toe to "stand them up"? Standard demand of most owners when they have a new trimmer or shoer working for them. Pictures would help? Good Luck! Gary

[cynthia-jay]

A horizontal crack is sometimes refered to as a "blow out" in the area you are describing

TB's get them often as do other breeds

"Concussion" as well as imbalance can cause these to happen

If the horse is sttod up with to much heel and steep angles this would cause this as it is an indication of the natural break over

Sounds like the horse is imbalanced and these are stress cracks

They will grow out with out much damage and your horse may remain sound

Balance the horse up is your best bet

as ever and good luck
Jay