White line bruises. Arg.

I met the farrier at the barn this morning. Overall, Isis’ feet look good: reasonable growth and plenty of sole and hoof wall. However, she has some bruising in the white line and the white line appears to be thicker.

The white line is actually the growth of the lamina, the part of the hoof that holds the hoof wall to the hoof interior. If the white line is wider (stretching in the lamina: some separation between the hoof wall and the interior hoof structure) or has bruises, then it indicates that some factor has been impacting the lamina. Stressors can include food-related issues (inability to process something in grass, too much food, colic), stressful situations, etc.

The farrier said that he is seeing quite a few horses with the same things showing in their white lines. He thinks it is caused by the lush pastures we have right now. He said to keep an eye on her for a while and monitor the amount of grass or sugars she eats.

Even though the farrier said we should just monitor her white lines, it is still hard to hear that there might be something wrong with her feet. After two boughts with laminitis and losing at least two years worth of riding time because of it, anything abnormal makes me rather twitchy.

Related Images: