Brittle hoof walls

These photos show a front hoof that has brittle hoof walls. Hoof dressing, Rainmaker and Hoof flex, had been applied for many months, hoping to improve hoof wall quality.  This horse also has some thrush issues and Thrushbuster was applied liberally and often to get rid of the thrush.

Hoof wall quality will only improve with a better diet, not the application of products. Think of your own nails, do they improve when you apply nail products? The natural barefoot trim helps the horse that is on a balanced diet, grow in a healthier hoof wall.

About half way down this hoof wall you can see a ring, this is when his diet was changed, Omega Horse Shine, and then a bit later, California Trace minerals, were added to his diet. From this ring up to the coronet, this horse is growing in a tighter, better connected hoof wall. In the mean time he needs to be trimmed so the wall will not continue to flare, crack, chip and basically fall apart.

This is a mustang roll. The hoof wall can no longer pull away from the laminae and weaken the attachment because of the roll. The thrush and fungus that were also causing hoof wall separation are being treated with Thrush off, once or twice, and then daily apple cider vinegar as a sprayed on wash. Products like Thrush buster do kill the thrush bacteria, but they also kill the good bacteria and set the horse up for more thrush. Chemicals are not a bad thing, but the right chemicals are needed to kill the fungus and bacteria in horses feet.

If your horse has poor hoof wall quality, take a look at his diet, environment, and the type of trim. All of these factors, addressed in the correct way, improve a horses hoof.

The Barefoot trim - the sole

An important part of the natural barefoot trim is how the sole of the hoof is trimmed. This horse was in shoes, I should say a shoe as only one was still on, and I am going to do a natural barefoot trim.  As you can see in the photos, the sole was not trimmed as there was no reason to take any sole. Live sole should be left intact, any cracking powdery sole can be removed, but live sole should not be removed as the horse needs it for protection, support and proper hoof function. I trimmed the hoof wall and bars, balanced the heels and rolled the entire wall. I set the horse up to heal and for the hoof to change from long toe and under run heels to a correct, balanced hoof. 

Again a long stretched toe, you can see the stretched white line, the heels are too far forward, look at the heel and then look at the back of the frog, the heel bulbs are sticking out, also notice one is bigger than the other. The next photo is the same hoof three trims later. Again, only trimming hoof wall and bars, balancing the heels, rolling the hoof wall and not removing live sole. This horse is starting to develop a calloused sole and instead of being flat its starting to have concavity, the contracted forward heels have come back to where they should be aligning with the heel bulbs. There is more happening inside that we can't see, the changes on the outside show us the inside is realigning for correct bone alignment and a correct balanced, functional hoof.

This oblique view of the hoof shows us the toe callus that is building and the concavity this horse is developing as he grows in a new healthy hoof. The weight of the horse is supported by the frog and heel bulbs combined as he lands heel first, then the combination of the hoof wall, and the sole that is along the hoof wall. You can see in this photo where the horse is landing and building that calloused sole around the outer rim of his hoof. Again, there is no reason to remove the live sole, if I did I would make the horse sore. 

Think of your own feet. If you were to take off your shoes and start walking around barefoot, at first you would be tender footed, then you would start to develop callouses and soon you would be able to walk around on most anything. If you then went in for a pedicure, had all  your callouses removed plus a few layers of skin, your feet would hurt and you would have to rebuild all that skin and callous before you could walk on most anything again. This is how it is for the horse. To remove live, and or calloused, sole will make a horse sore and require shoes. 

Makes you wonder, why are we trimming and thinning the soles of horses when they need that sole? There is an old saying that form follows function. The form of a healthy, balanced, bare sole has some concavity, thickness and callus. The function is to allow a horse to move in comfort and is an integral part of a healthy bare hoof.

White Line Disease: What it looks like and how to avoid

Right Front (RF) Lateral view.

RF Medial view crack to left of toe

RF Oblique  WLD at heel/quarters

RF Solar WLD at quarters to heel

White line disease (WLD) is not a disease but a fungus that can be treated and grown out. It needs to be addressed by both owner and trimmer as a team. The photos of the above hoof show WLD in the right front hoof. This horse has had a crack. That, along with environment and diet factors, allowed the fungus to enter the hoof laminae and take hold.

How to prevent WLD and create a healthy hoof.

• Nutrition: A balanced diet with plenty of good quality grass hay along with a Vit./mineral supplement balanced for your area. The PNW soil is low in selenium, the hays are high in iron and manganese and deficient in copper, zinc and lysine. High levels of iron block the absorption of copper.  Signs that your horse is nutritionally deficient are poor hoof quality, a dull hair coat and an overall lack of condition. The best way to have your nutrition program balanced is to have your hay tested. If your hay comes from multiple sources feed a supplement that balances the minerals deficient in your location. Mineral blocks are very high in iron and should be removed and replaced with a white salt block or loose salt.

• Environment:  Too wet, mud, too much rich grass, over grazed stressed pastures, lack of movement, all key factors that can lead to WLD and other problems with your horse's hooves. Keeping it all in controlled BALANCE and being aware of your horse's condition will help better your horse's body condition and hooves.

• Hoof care - Regular (4-6 weeks) correct trims, cleaning the hooves, diligent treatment of thrush/cracks/WLD and booting when needed.

Over time, if any of these factors are deficient or neglected, they will start to show in the horses hooves, their hair and their overall condition. The trim is a small but important factor in hoof care, the other key factors need to be provided by the owner. Nutrition, Environment and Hoof Care, keeping all in the correct balance will lead to healthy hooves.


Same horse, left front hoof, seam is a former crack, no WLD.

Left Front (LF) lateral

LF oblique