Those quarter cracks...

[WinterTriangle]

Hoping to be enlightened here. Dont' know much about horse medicine. But most describe these as the equivalent of a hangnail.

Yet, I go to sites where it shows the *wiring* of the crack, and then of course, they slather the glue over that so you don't see it.

However, I will say it sure looks like more than a *hangnail* to me. As a matter of fact, I would term the photos "not for the faint-hearted."

Can we compare it to something other than a hangnail? After all horses don't run on their hands........:) Either do we.

[ManeMediaMogul]

Our carpal bones are in our wrists. Horses' carpal bones are in their knees, so to compare the two in that sense, horses run on what would be our fingers - one of the reasons they are so fragile.

As far as a quarter crack, it is not like a hangnail. It would be like a crack in the nail at the point of the cuticle that runs toward the tip of the finger. Obviously there would be tenderness at the top of the crack.

The keys to successful repair are:

1) Keeping the area clean and dry
2) Preventing infection
3) Closing the crack when it is dry and clear of infection.
4) Strengthening the area of the hoof wall (Fiberglass/Epoxy)

If those things are accomplished, the weather is good and the foot shows no heat, pulse or lameness there is no reason why a horse can't race at his normal level.

Quarter crack patches can actually help the horse grow his foot out to successfully eliminate future problems.

[onefast99]

We currently have 2 horse who Ian has worked on and successfully repaired the quarter cracks on. One is a NJ bred 3yo who slammed her foot against the stall wall, the other is a 4 year old who always had soft feet and he has never been better since the repair last month. By no means is a quarter crack any big issue, as stated in the above post the area must be kept clean and free of infection. BB will run his race and once again win!

[Shenanigans]

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47220&page=2&pp=15

View post #26 in the thread above. Cangamble posted a great video of Ian's "magic". After watching and listening to Ian's view of a quarter crack, I don't know how anyone can not consider it a serious issue. Yes, it can be taken care of, and maybe with Ian doing the job, one gets a better sense of relief, but it still is a serious matter.

[onefast99]

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47220&page=2&pp=15

View post #26 in the thread above. Cangamble posted a great video of Ian's "magic". After watching and listening to Ian's view of a quarter crack, I don't know how anyone can not consider it a serious issue. Yes, it can be taken care of, and maybe with Ian doing the job, one gets a better sense of relief, but it still is a serious matter.
These are all case by case, yes you can have a quarter crack that is worse then the one BB has but the two I have didnt keep them off the track or out of the races. I also think the media has hyped the quarter crack issue a lot!

[WinterTriangle]

Of course the media would over-react to this situation, and in no way am I doing that.

I understand injuries of this sort are fully remediable w/good maintenance and time. My concern here was more with the TIMING issue.

"Deep Sandy", esp. if sopping wet, combined with running stress, would certainly not be *good* for a still-healing quarter crack. While I don't expect it to change BBs run, one cannot help but consider that it'd be optimum if he didn't have to run on it, in a marathon, *now*.

[DJofSD]

"Deep Sandy", esp. if sopping wet, combined with running stress, would certainly not be *good* for a still-healing quarter crack. While I don't expect it to change BBs run, one cannot help but consider that it'd be optimum if he didn't have to run on it, in a marathon, *now*.

onefast99 and MMM have provided excellent responses. And to add a little more, quarter cracks can run the gamut from a minor problem to a major one requiring extensive work by a vet and farrier. I'm not sure where BB's problem falls in range of problems.

One of the major objectives when treating quarter cracks is to prevent the crack from proceeding further up the hoof so as to not reach the area which is the source of hoof growth (coronary band). Once a crack has extented that far up the hoof it will permanently weaken the hoof wall.

The only "cure" is for the hoof to grow and the weakened or damaged section of the hoof wall to be trimmed off.

There's a wealth of information on the internet about hoof cracks and there treatment:

http://www.andalusians-for-you.com/quarter-crack.html

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/horse-health/1996/July/27/Healing-quarter-cracks.aspx

[BeatTheChalk]

More than we ever wanted to know ...but here yah go ...

http://cangamble.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-is-quarter-crack-and-how-to-repair.html