Hoof Cracks
How do cracks form?
Cracks can come from a few different causes. Usually I see the most cracks are from imbalances in the hoof. When the heels and bars are left high, they push forward and cause "quarter cracks". The hoof wall at the back half of the hoof is attached to the lateral cartilages while the front half of the hoof wall is attached to the coffin bone.
The quarter crack occurs at that juncture and is due to excess horn in the back half of the foot pushing forward. This usuallymakes an inward vertical crack. If the horse's foot is naturally harder and contracted, this excess wall horn can fold under the foot. If it is a wide foot like a draft or draft cross, it can pull outward and stretch the attachment in the back half of the walls. If the horse has weak horn, the wall can start to bend and cause cracking all the way around. Or an inward toe crack can form when the heels and bars get high which tips the coffin bone up on its front edge.
Sometimes if the horse lives in an environment of manure and wet, the ammonia from these wastes damages the horn and can increase any existing damage.
A common farrier attempt at correcting a crack is like painting over the ceiling when the roof has a leak! The imbalances in the hoof, the health of the horn produced and the environment must all be addressed before cracks can be healed. The tubules must be aligned to grow directly towards the ground.
The quarter crack occurs at that juncture and is due to excess horn in the back half of the foot pushing forward. This usuallymakes an inward vertical crack. If the horse's foot is naturally harder and contracted, this excess wall horn can fold under the foot. If it is a wide foot like a draft or draft cross, it can pull outward and stretch the attachment in the back half of the walls. If the horse has weak horn, the wall can start to bend and cause cracking all the way around. Or an inward toe crack can form when the heels and bars get high which tips the coffin bone up on its front edge.
Sometimes if the horse lives in an environment of manure and wet, the ammonia from these wastes damages the horn and can increase any existing damage.
A common farrier attempt at correcting a crack is like painting over the ceiling when the roof has a leak! The imbalances in the hoof, the health of the horn produced and the environment must all be addressed before cracks can be healed. The tubules must be aligned to grow directly towards the ground.
After 3 months
Wall cracks
This is a photo of one of my horses before I started the Strasser hoofcare course. The whole reason why I went to my first SHP workshop was because I was confounded that my farrier could never get these cracks to go away. As I was about to learn over the next few years, cracks can be difficult to fix. In this particular case, the hoof wall had flaring all around, and though the cracks were mainly superficial, that compromised the ability of the hoof to hold together and withstand the impact of the very large horse's weight.
The first photo is from Sept 2005. The second is from Dec 2005
The last one is from a year later.
The first photo is from Sept 2005. The second is from Dec 2005
The last one is from a year later.
Quarter Cracks
Quarter cracks usually are a result of too much length of the back half of the walls and bars.
The bars and back half of the hoof have good circulation which leads to faster growth, while the front half of the foot is connected to the dorsal surface of the coffin bone and receives blood flow through the digital arteries coming thru openings in the coffin bone. If the heel gets high/long, or the bars get high/long, they tip the coffin bone forward on the toe, which essentially pinches the circulation thru the coffin bone by forcing it against the dorsal hoof wall.
The first photo shows a hoof with just the beginnings of a quarter crack. These cracks are usually inward and begin with the outside layer of horn showing a crack all the way up to the coronet.
The next photo shows a crack that has made its way up into the interior of the hoof about halfway to the coronet. Below that photo is one showing the same foot a few months into corrective trimming. The crack is growing out and the wall is resected to allow air and disinfectant treatment.
The last photo shows the crack completely grown out.
Below shows a 3 yr old with excess heel and bar horn causing a quarter crack. But the quarter crack is the least of this horse's problems!
The bars and back half of the hoof have good circulation which leads to faster growth, while the front half of the foot is connected to the dorsal surface of the coffin bone and receives blood flow through the digital arteries coming thru openings in the coffin bone. If the heel gets high/long, or the bars get high/long, they tip the coffin bone forward on the toe, which essentially pinches the circulation thru the coffin bone by forcing it against the dorsal hoof wall.
The first photo shows a hoof with just the beginnings of a quarter crack. These cracks are usually inward and begin with the outside layer of horn showing a crack all the way up to the coronet.
The next photo shows a crack that has made its way up into the interior of the hoof about halfway to the coronet. Below that photo is one showing the same foot a few months into corrective trimming. The crack is growing out and the wall is resected to allow air and disinfectant treatment.
The last photo shows the crack completely grown out.
Below shows a 3 yr old with excess heel and bar horn causing a quarter crack. But the quarter crack is the least of this horse's problems!
Toe Cracks
Toe cracks usually form as a result of of the hoof having high/long bars and walls too. Similar to the first horse's foot with multiple cracks, this horse is a big horse and the wall has flaring all around. The curve in the medial wall can be seen clearly and that makes the foot weaker because the tubules in the hoof wall are bent. The remedy for this is again to keep the heels and bars from tipping the foot forward and rasping the flare to help the tubules re-align their growth toward the ground.