crack in hoof top of coronet band

roloaimee

roloaimee

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has anyone had any experience with a crack in the hoof up to the top of coronet band? really worried been through so much and vets coming tomorrow - just worried its going be bad news????
 
Is the horse sound?

Where is the crack?

How long has the crack been there?

Does the crack move as the horse walks?

Has the horse got shoes on?

Can you post a picture?
 
Sand crack possibly?

I would listen to CPTrayes on this one and post some pics for her to have a look and advise, she seems very knowledgeable on these matters! :)
 
My old TB had really bad feet when we got him and had a faint line right up to his c band - farrier just trimmed him more often as the bottom of the hoof was splitting - grew out quite quickly :D
 
V sorry. My phone died at the yard. Vet said its eiher a over reach of a quater crack. To c how it goes give it time to dry out and seal he cut some away to release pressure if that doesnt work to try putting pads under his feet. But he trotted up sound today so def isnt lame. He wears those shoes for heal support, hes coffin joint deg, and to correct the pastern axis. When u say it like that sounds terrible, but he is sound.
 
OK

It's very difficult to judge from a picture which is not even of your horse, and your vet may well be right when he says it could be an overreach, though I've personally never seen one that would produce a verticle crack in the hoof wall.

IF, big if, I have imagined properly what you are trying to describe, then my thoughts are as follows.

A crack at the top which does not go down to the bottom, for me, indicates a number of things

1. That the quality of your horses horn is both thin and brittle, it simply should not be able to crack open like that. It should be too thick and too flexible.

2. That your horse's feet are not balanced and that there is too much pressure at the quarter, where the foot has cracked. The bleeding is further evidence of this because the crack is moving as he does, which is being caused by the uneven pressure. Unless this movement is stopped, it is likely that the crack will have real problems closing and will eventually reach from the top to the ground.

I am concerned for you that he is shod in wedges, because there is an increasing body of opinion that far from supporting heels, they cause even further collapse. The also cause a toe first landing which has been shown in experiments to cause damage to the deep digital flexor tendon inside the foot. Lastly, in wedges it is going to be very difficult to stop the incorrect pressure on the hoof wall that caused the crack.

The hoof quality can be addressed with a change to a very low sugar, low carbohydrate , high fibre diet, and probably also needs one of the supplements that were formulated for maximum barefoot hoof heath like Progressive earth's Pro Hoof, sold on eBay.

The easiest way to correct the hoof pressure problem is to go barefoot, but since he is currently in wedges I suspect that you, your farrier and your vet are a long way off going in that direction.

I don't mean to scare you but it is unusual for a horse's foot to crack at the top and not the bottom unless there was an obvious coronet band injury too, and I believe it could well be a considerable threat to his long term soundness if it moves when he does and causes bleeding. I have owned one with the same problem myself in the past, before I knew what I know now about nutrition and barefoot. He had to be shod every four weeks to stay sound, and had two cracks screwed together with plates.
 
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thank you for your response - we was thinking maybe it was an over reach or knock because it was sort of not from the top it has gone upwards... it wasnt quite as far up as it is now :(
yes i guessed my self it was bad
but the vet and farrier seem to be optimistic(ish)
lets hope i can get it to miraculously heal!
i think ill invest in this supplement
rolls is only fed alpha a mollased free and high fibre nuts... dont know if you know much about the alpha a unmollased??

how did u come to learn so much??

thanks i appreciate your time
ill def get u a pic tmro when i go down!! sorry im so un organised! lol!

i did previously consider bare foot when he was lame - but we seemed to get him sound - i will consider it more in the future
 
roloaimee said:
thank you for your response - we was thinking maybe it was an over reach or knock because it was sort of not from the top it has gone upwards... it wasnt quite as far up as it is now :(
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Even if it's a knock, a verticle crack from a knock is extremely unusual, as is moving upwards like it has, and still suggests that it split because of quality and pressure problems.

rolls is only fed alpha a mollased free and high fibre nuts... dont know if you know much about the alpha a unmollased??
Click to expand...

A lot of barefoot horses can't tolerate alfalfa and have to be taken off it to keep them from feeling stones. Check your hi fibre cubes bag label too, they usually have molasses in them (though most horses tolerate cubes very well) I would change to a different product than the alfa A if I were you.

His big diet question is whether he gets too much grass. For some horses "too much" is unfortunately not very much.

how did u come to learn so much??
Click to expand...

I'm old, insatiably curious, have a semi-photographic memory and I've had horses for a looooooong time :D
 
Will take 1 after work. Do u knw any horse recovered from this? U are a handy person to know!! :) uve made a friend haha ill pester u now
 
Recovery is not that difficult provided there is nothing like a keratoma in there.

First you need to get the hoof quality right while also keeping that crack totally free of infection. I would be using hydrogen peroxide at 3% on it twice a day until it stopped bleeding and then I would fill the crack with sudocrem once a day. Then if your horse was mine I'd take off the shoes. That's the only way I would consider, being a fully paid up member of the barefoot taliban.

A farrier would consider stabilising it by screwing it together and/or filling it with resin. And that might work. It didn't with the horse I mentioned above.

The horse I mentioned died of heart problems before we could know how his feet were going to turn out, but another had this crack on a hind foot, also unstable, which grew out the moment his hind shoes came off, and I have seen photos of much, much worse cracks than this that did the same.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LiHmDr5IsNM/TeaaQAPp6rI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/W5I_kJJJBWY/s320/17SEP010.JPG
 
roloaimee said:
Will take 1 after work. Do u knw any horse recovered from this? U are a handy person to know!! :) uve made a friend haha ill pester u now
Click to expand...

I am not infallible. You need to listen to other people like your vet and farrier too, perhaps do a bit more research into barefoot and also into wedges, and then make up your own mind what you should do.
 
My filly had a pretty impressive crack in her Coronet band, where an abscess burst out which had obviously been brewing for quite some time before i adopted her. It was horizontal rather than vertical, but just over 2cm long, and actually split the hoof away from where it joins the leg - made me feel quite ill just looking at it!

Anyway - i used hydrogen peroxide twice a day as cptrays advises you, and took her shoes off (ex-racer so although was a baby, was shod all-round), and carefully designed her diet to suit. If anything it was a blessing in disguise because she had pretty awful feet all round too, but we're approaching 12 months on now, and the crack has nearly grown out (with VERY regular visits from the farrier) and all of her feet are SOOOOO much better in shape and condition!

There is certainly hope, but PLEASE take the advice of Cptrayes (i did :D) and seriously consider/discuss with your vet and farrier going barefoot, even if just to fix this.
 
I would possibly consider it to be where an abscess has broken out and has not healed up - the skin on the coronary band is broken and still open - the reason for the blood.

I personally would poultice the foot to draw out whatever is still in there and possibly have the horse on a course of antibiotics to kill off any bugs still lurking.

Flush the area out with dilute Hydrogen Peroxide to encourage the healing. Until the coronary band heals the split will continue to grow down the hoof.
 
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