And my farrier says...

The crack in my horse's hoof is no big deal.

He cleaned the edges up a bit with the file, and sanded the hoof wall with a sanding sponge, just like what you buy at Home Depot. It looks much better now, even though the crack is still there:



I'll have to keep an eye on it, and my farrier wants me to keep it moisturized with Hoof Heal. But I can ride Panama without worrying about harming him.

The farrier did say that if the crack worsen, I may have to consider putting shoes on Panama. I made a face and said I'd rather not, and to my surprise, my farrier agreed: "I like to keep most horses barefoot if I can," he said. He did mention that there may be other options, which we'll discuss if it comes to that.

The threat of having to shoe Panama should be a good motivator for applying Hoof Heal regularly!