injury to coronet band

[trakluvva]

I think my horse's rt hind hoof was stepped on by another horse while he was out. It appears that there was a force that went straight down on his coronet, causing a flesh wound right above the hoof and into the coronet band- the hoof is forced away, leaving a lip of hoof about 2mm deep (just a small tear, but a part of the hoof is not attached as it once was). There is some bruising in the hoof as well- it is white and I can see redish spots. The length of the wound is approx 3 -4 inches on the outside, running along the coronet horizontally. How is it that the coronet of the hoof recovers from an injury like this? Is the hoof growth going to be affected? In the short term the flesh wound seems to be healing without complications of infections etc. He is sound at the walk, but I have not trotted him yet. I expect that he will be tender on it in the short term, it only makes sense. But I am more worried about longterm consequences to his hoof growth.

Any advice on a course of action, and what might be expected?
Anne

[trakluvva]

Is there anyone who can help me with what I asked in my previous post?

[Gary Hill]

Open wounds fall into the realm of the Vets. We cannot advise you how to treat wounds like that ,that is not our jobs. Legal thing if ya catch my drift? You need to find out what happened exactly if you can. Pictures will help us to tell you how to shoe after the vet has done his or her job first. Good Luck! Gary

[Gary Pfeiffer]

As you describe the wound, it is one of those things that only time will tell if the hoof will grow normally, or the hoof will grow out with a scar.
Rarely do these types of injuries result in a permanent lameness.
I have seen and shod many hooves with bad scar's growing down the hoof. All have had no soundness issue, just a blemish issue. Some have had to be shod to help support a chronic quarter crack.
Still only time will tell. In approx three months enough new growth should give your Farrier a good idea what he will be dealing with in the future.
If you can post some pictures, we would be able to confirm our thoughts.

Gary

[trakluvva]

Thanks very much for the info.
I appreciate that you cannot advise on "vet" issues. I don't think the wound warrants a vet visit, there is never much to be done with it, other than keeping it clean, dry and infection free. The healing is progressing as I would like, it's just the future of the hoof that worries me. I cross my fingers that time will heal all things. It is a particularily unfortunate place to have an injury.
Thanks, Anne

[trakluvva]

Here is a picture. In an attempt to get in close I got too close. The tear doesn't go deep, what you see is about as deep as it is. The Blue Kote obscurs the wound above the hoof somewhat, but it is healing well. The tear to the hoof concerns me.
Any input would be appreciated.
Anne

[trakluvva]

Hi;
It is 6 months since I posted this thread about the injury my horse had to coronet band. It has almost grown out now, his hoof looks perfect, and it seems like it grew very quickly too. The complicating factor is that the 3" horizontal cut (seen in the pics at the beginning above) has broken off about 1.5" from the bottom of his hoof, leaving a massive chunk of his hoof without hoof (if you know what I mean). He's missing a big chunk of foot now. The hoof broke off a bit past the white line. (He only recently had his hind shoes left off- I piped into another thread about my horse and his panic about the nailing process- this is something else altogether.) I had been watching the chunk that was attached but bending back for a week, but finally today when I went up to ride the piece was gone. He is mildly lame at the trot on the lunge when the hoof is bearing more weight on the inside. He seems fine at the walk both directions.

So, he will get some time off for a bit, also he will get his hind shoes back on, mainly because he wears shoes to protect against arena wear. My question is this: Is putting shoes on going to help him through this? What to do about the missing chunk of foot? Can you nail a shoe on and have a big gap between the bottom of the chunk and the shoe? Do you need to fill in the gap, (with a substance I don't have a name for), until the foot grows down in a few months? Anything else I haven't considered?
Thanks very much for any input.
Anne

[fairweatherforge]

Nail a shoe on he should be fine. As long as you can get enough nails in the foot to hold the shoe on there is no reason to fill it in. By the end of winter it will all be grown down.