Possible Equine Keratoma :(

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SonnysHumanSlave

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Had a new farrier come out today, and what a difference!

Had my last one for over 10years, but he's gotten undeniable!

So anyways after trimming up the front hoof. He pointed to a small brown circular mark. About the size of a 1p. Id never seen it before. He said looking at it it's possibly a Keratoma, but can't confirm without more looking into it.

So has anyone on here heard of this before?

Horse is not lame etc, so he said not to worry, and we'd keep an eye on it.
 
No personal experience but a quick bit of googling suggests it's a benign tumor that can cause lameness if it's in the wrong place or if its interference with the normal hoof structures allows an infection to sneak in. Surgical removal appears to lead to good results. I wouldn't get too fretful about it until there's actually a definite problem and diagnosis! Your farrier's advice not to worry and to keep an eye on it would appear to be the thing to do. I hope your funny brown spot is just that---a funny brown spot of no further significance!
 
My farrier discovered a similar thing on my mares front foot about 6 months ago which he said might be a keratoma. Its at the toe area sort of on the white line/sole border. It does have red bits (blood) more than brown but it isn't painful when he cuts it.

I was going to get it x-rayed to see if it was a keratoma because they can grow quite big and put pressure on structures within the hoof. However the surgery is really invasive to the hoof and it has to be packed and cleaned every day and box rest for a long time. She isn't lame and I decided that at 23 I wouldn't put her through the surgery even if she did go lame. So I decided not to x-ray so not even sure its a keratoma anyway!

My farrier just keeps an eye on it and it doesn't seem to have grown. I think if she does go lame I will probably get the x-ray done just to see the extent of it.

He did say he knows of another horse who went through the surgery and has had problems with infection and the thing just grew back after a while.

If your horse isn't lame, I would just keep an eye on it. Then if he does go lame in that foot you could consider x-rays to confirm whether it is keratoma or not.

There is an ILPH video on allied equine showing the surgery which is quite interesting!
 
Teds is in about the same place.

I shall have a look for the video, I had never heard of them before. Teds only 6 so will be worth getting done if he goes lame.
 
My friends horse had one, his was removed, remedially shod and hoof rebuilt over 6-9months, 1 year later he is now back competing at BE100 and is about to be sold as she has another youngster to bring on. So even if in the wrong place with insurance it can be sorted. He was only 5 when discovered so it was decided even with the hard work it was best to have surgery to enable him to have a successful career. If you saw him you wouldnt even know. She only had to have the packing changed fortnightly the foot was just well bandaged to keep clean. it is better if not messed with too much
 
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