crack in hoof top of coronet band

I really appreciate everyones help. I am quite novice so every little help i will take. I Have more pics of hooves if interested? X
 
I'd continue to wash it out with saline (salt water) then squirt in some diluted Hydrogen Peroxide. Then use an Animalintex poultice (wet with hot water) amd bandage over.

Below is a cheap and easy poultice boot that will only cost the shoelace.

Poulticeboot.jpg
 
Personally I would not poultice that wound, on the basis that there is no infection evident and the last thing I think that foot needs is the wet sogginess which is always caused by wet animalintex.

Roloaimee I am sorry to worry you but I think that both your vet and your farrier seem to be walking straight into what could become a serious problem. If you do not get that crack stabilised, it is going to grow down to the bottom of the hoof, at which point it is so close to the heel that the whole heel is going to become effectively "detached" from the rest of the foot.

When you reach that situation it is very difficult to get back from, with a crack that far back on the foot.

I would keep it disinfected rigourously meanwhile, and try and find a remedial farrier who can stop that crack moving when the horse walks. That will give it half a chance of healing at the top. Until you stop the movement, it will be very difficult indeed to get it to heal at the top.

By the way, I am also unimpressed, from what I can see in the photo (they can be very misleading), with the lack of width and length of heel support your horse has in those shoes. They seem barely to cover his heels, never mind support them, which I would have thought is the last thing you want with a horse with problems caused by weak heels.
 
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More :)

It is certainly not a classic abscess exit wound at the coronet. They are normally wider than that, and if they produce a split it is almost always horizontal, not vertical.

It looks much more like my horse's foot did, where the foot cracked first, then wiggled when he walked and the wiggling caused it to go up into the coronet and make it bleed.

Still, whether it was caused by an abscess or not, a verticle split from the top is very unusual, and even more unusual about yours is that it is not straight, it zigzags madly. I assume the vet cut out the dip in it, so I will ignore that, but the hoof is made of pretty much straight tubules (like hair stuck together) and cracks normally don't break across tubules like that. It's something I have never seen before.

So I would repeat my thoughts on both the quality/brittleness and the thickness of your horse's hooves, and taking a good hard look at his diet and mineral balances.
 
This is hard, my vet thinks that closing it may cause infection... i am so worried about it. The horse is my world. we have been through so much i cant let this be the end. Just v hard working out whats best
 
cptrayes said:
More :)

It is certainly not a classic abscess exit wound at the coronet. They are normally wider than that, and if they produce a split it is almost always horizontal, not vertical.

It looks much more like my horse's foot did, where the foot cracked first, then wiggled when he walked and the wiggling caused it to go up into the coronet and make it bleed.

Still, whether it was caused by an abscess or not, a verticle split from the top is very unusual, and even more unusual about yours is that it is not straight, it zigzags madly. I assume the vet cut out the dip in it, so I will ignore that, but the hoof is made of pretty much straight tubules (like hair stuck together) and cracks normally don't break across tubules like that. It's something I have never seen before.

So I would repeat my thoughts on both the quality/brittleness and the thickness of your horse's hooves, and taking a good hard look at his diet and mineral balances.
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My reason for suggesting that it may be an abscess drain site is that my mare had the exact same thing last year and I KNOW that it was an abscess as we poulticed it out - It opened up vertically across the coronary band and took a long time to heal.

Most importantly being an open wound it needs to be kept clean - therefore this needs to be kept covered - initially it WILL need to be poulticed as all dirt currently in it needs to be drawn out. Then once clean it can be dry poulticed.

After flushing with Hydrogen Peroxide I would use a topical antibiotic - such as that used for treating mastitis in cows - it comes in a handy tube with a long nozzle - great for squirting into wounds.
 
Tnavas said:
My reason for suggesting that it may be an abscess drain site is that my mare had the exact same thing last year and I KNOW that it was an abscess as we poulticed it out - It opened up vertically across the coronary band and took a long time to heal.

Most importantly being an open wound it needs to be kept clean - therefore this needs to be kept covered - initially it WILL need to be poulticed as all dirt currently in it needs to be drawn out. Then once clean it can be dry poulticed.

After flushing with Hydrogen Peroxide I would use a topical antibiotic - such as that used for treating mastitis in cows - it comes in a handy tube with a long nozzle - great for squirting into wounds.
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I can see that an abscess could cause that to a hoof already in poor condition. I only meant that it was not "classic" not that it was not an abscess, sorry if you read it as disagreeing with you, I wasn't.

BUt I don't agree with your suggested treatment, Tnavas, and it's not what I would do to it. In my experience vets love poulticing too and if the vet saw the slightest reason to poultice I would have expected him to say so. A vet I used to use was fond of saying "if you don't have pus and put a wet commercially prepared poultice on, you soon will!". Even if it was infected, then I would never poultice an open abscess which is draining freely, as this one must be with a crack that size. I would simply flush twice a day with peroxide as I am ironically doing right now with one of my own.

It's fine to disagree, roloaimee needs to decide whose advice she should go with.


Roloaimee try not to worry too much. I've seen a number of "detached heels" caused by cracks like this and the horses have never been lame. It may not be pretty but hopefully it won't affect him.

I completely agree with your vet that the last thing it needs is stabilising by stuffing it with resin, but I doubt if your farrier would be that daft. I think it needs a longer shoe on pronto though, to stabilise the heel more and stop it shifting when the horse moves.
 
cptrayes - Ruby's eventually healed but with a scar across the wall of the hoof - she is sound.

Having used resin in the past I've found that while it works for some horses there are some that are allergic to it and it creates more trouble then it helps.

Stapling across the split to stabalise it may work, alternatively my farrier in the past has removed a couple of mm from the ground surface of the shoe below a crack to ensure that that part of the foot has reduced pressure.

.......hoof....... l split
_____________________
l........shoe....._______ l
l____________l
Ground surface of shoe
 
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Tnavas I am confused that you keep using the term "across" the coronet/hoof. Abscesses which cause a hole across the hoof are pretty common and never usually cause any problem growing out.

Did your horse develope a verticle crack, down the hoof, like this one? Have you got any photos to help reassure roloaimee how yours healed?
 
I personally would poultice for a couple of days, abcess or not, there is a possibility of infection from this injury, so I would poultice and enlist a remedial farrier. I am not as experienced in such matters as TN or CPT but, I would want to ensure that I was dealing with a clean site and that I was preventing future damage.

Sorry guys but Im in the middle on this one and would chose a mix of both approaches
 
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