White Line Disease (WLD)

White line disease is a fungal infection of the horse's hoof. This infection results in a breakdown of the wall of the hoof which makes shoeing the horse and keeping shoes on difficult.

The part of the hoof known as white line is the inner layer of the wall. The white line is actually yellowish in colour and has a soft, fibrous structure. It can be seen on the underside of a healthy hoof as a thin line joining the walls of the hoof and the sole of the foot.

White line disease usually starts as a splitting of the hoof wall at the white line or as an infection around the nail holes. It first appears  as a crack or cavity which appears between the white line and the surface of the hoof. As the infection progresses it eats its way upwards through the hoof which weakens the attachment of the inner and outer walls of the horse's hoof.

As white line disease progresses the crack or cavity in the hoof gets larger and a foul-smelling, crumbly substance, similar to cottage cheese, appears in this crack.

Advanced cases of white line disease have been known to progress through into the outer wall of the horse or pony's hoof, sole and sometimes even the frog.

A horse will not be lame during the stages of the disease, but lameness often occurs  when the hoof wall is weakened so much it is impossible to keep the horse shod.

CAUSES OF WHITE LINE DISEASE

Several factors can contribute to the development of white line disease in horses - including the following:

•Being kept in damp and or humid conditions

•Stress after a bout of laminitis

•An injury to the hoof

•Long toes - this causes stress where the hoof wall joins the sole of the foot

•Poor stable management,  dirty bedding

•Poor diet and nutrition

If it is caught in the early stages white line disease will cause few problems - but if it is left untreated it can cause damage to the hoof wall.

The best way to treat the infection disease is to catch it early and treat it with a product that kills both bacteria and fungus.

Horses with WLD will exhibit poor hoof wall quality.  Their hoof walls will often chip, crack and appear tattered.  They will have hoof wall discoloration and it can be very difficult for them to hold a shoe. 

Treatment

The best product we have found for the treatment of White Line Disease is Clean Trax, www.centaurforge.com.  It will kill bacteria, fungus and their spores.  This is a important element.  Most products will not kill the fungal spores and the infection will quickly return.