Management of White line Disease

White line disease always occurs secondary to a hoof wall separation. Although hoof wall separations are wide spread, very few horses with hoof wall separations develop extensive white line disease. Therefore the mechanism by which the disease originates in the separation and dissects through the inner hoof wall destroying the attachment is unknown. Removal of the hoof wall overlying the diseased area combined with an properly designed shoeing plan has been our treatment of choice. There have been numerous trials where white line disease was present in both front feet; one foot was treated with a topical medication and the other foot was left as a control and just cleaned daily. There was no clinical difference between the treated and untreated foot in resolving white line disease therefore making the use of topical medications very questionable. See Management of White Line Disease in the podiatry section