See hoof condition
section for the
reason that hooves have more of a tendancy to get sandcracks.
Sandcracks are created when hooves
are not trimmed regularly, when they are naturally poorly formed
eg after laminitis, when the coronary band is injured or when they
have thin hoof walls or very dry brittle horn.
Sandcracks can be treated with nail
or toe clips either side of the fissure. This will stabalise the
area enough for supplements to do their work in growing new horn.
If the crack is growing up to the coronary band it needs to be
stopped before it damages this area and causes permanent damage.
In such cases a bar is inserted at the top of the crack to stop it
spreading further.
When a horse has deep sandcracks
they may need to be sewn together with steel wire and crack filled
in with resin.
A permanent sandcrack is formed
when the coronary band is damaged. Thus when the cells that
produce the horn are damaged they are unable to produce horn to
heal up the crack that has occurred.
A sensible approach to sandcracks
is:
- pare the hoof to a normal shape
- Put a shoe on the foot that
reduces movement around the crack
- Feed supplements are make sure
the hoof does not become excessively dry.
Sandcracks only cause lameness when
they become deep and let infection into the foot. In such cases
you may get pus coming out oof the crack at the sole level.
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