Split coronet band - any experiences?

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kinglouis

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My horse has been turned away for 4 months following an injury to his high suspensory. Anyway he is a bit accident prone (to say the very least!) and had a small cut on his near hind on the coronet band at the weekend. I did all the usual hibiscrub & wound cream etc all was looking good and then...he must have done some sort of acrobatics and the cut split straight through the coronet band. The vet looked at it yesterday and it can't be rejoined by operation but they are gong to try cut some flesh away to give it more chance to join up. He will be in a cast for 4-6 weeks and back on box rest - poor boy only came off box rest 4 moths ago after a year long stint:( Has anyone else had a split coronet band, what was the healing time & did they fully heal? I'm told if it won't heal back together he will end up with a split hoof like a deer/cow and he will be very lame:(
 
my old horse had an accident when younger the split was at the front to one side of the left front, by the time I got him the split was already very visible. This didn't actually cause him any problems it was more 'cosmetic'. He on a few occasions knocked it or got it caught and it would bleed from the top and deep into the hoof, this would make him sore. One farrier I had did try and screw a mesh on the foot to try and hold it together to try and make the hoof grow properly without the split/crack but it didn't work. Don't dispair as it might not be as bad as you think, I only lost my boy at 17 through arthritis, not his rubbish feet!!
 
Not totally of much help but my gelding has scars on his coronet that give him permanent cracks down his hoof, they happened a long time ago, long before I got him and while they look a bit messy they don't cause him any bother.

he's got one on his near fore and both hinds - god knows what happened over his life to end up with such awful feet, but he goes barefoot and they never get any worse/ any better. He's never been lame with them but they do tend to chip off a bit more in summer when the ground is hard.
 
I had a 2yr old ID many years ago who put her hoof through an upturned fibre glass bath in the field ( oh the joy of being on a livery yard!!!). She had a deep wound to her coronet band but as it had happened through the night the wound was quite old and so we just cleaned it out and kept it cleaned whilst it healed, which took a few weeks. I kept the mare for a further 7 years and she recovered well from the injury. The hair never grew back over the wound site and she did have a permanant fault line down that hoof but it didn't cause any probs. Hope this helps.
 
My old horse separated his hoof capsule from his coronet band in a field accident. Due to position, it couldn't be stitched. He was given antibiotics and I applied aluspray everyday until it healed. It never caused him any lameness and the scarring on his hoof was minimal even though it looked extremely nasty when he first did it.

My YO's horse has a very similar injury that has been grumbling on for years. She has had the wound de-brided, he has done box rest and she is now on the aluspray. He also wears a sausage boot to prevent him catching it with his other foot. TBH, I don't think it will heal after all this time and 'playing' with it. It occassionally causes him to be out of work.
 
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Henry did this before Christmas, he was lame initially as there was an infection in there, after a week of anti-biotics and box rest and then a week out in the field he's sound.

The farrier has been to look at it and I've been told to make sure I keep it clean so it doesn't get infected again, he thinks the quarter may come off in six months time and it will be a b*gger to get a shoe on but in nine months time it should be fine, it will scar though. (Since this picture was taken the farrier has cleaned it up a bit and it looks much better).

My friend has an ex-polo pony that lost the entire back quarter of the hoof, much worse injury than this and she has a scar but has been 100% sound and has even played polo on it.
 
my girl split hers after an overreach because of being stuck in due to the snow last week :P

the vet said the same about an operation for her but then did say that would be a bit drastic- so suggested to poultice it, gave us antibiotics and bute (she's not in too much pain so we're just giving her antibiotics) and suggested box rest, though due to the hardness of the ground said we could also put her out.

with the snow we've stuck an overreach boot over the poultice to protect it (and plastic bags etc to keep it dry) and she's been more than happy just pottering about in a small patch with access to a dry shelter.

unless yours is in any obvious pain it wouldn't be too worried. horses are made to heal. i hope this helps.
 
My old horse damaged her coronary band as a youngster before I had her. This has resulted in a permanent cleft down one front hoof. It has been quite hard to manage over the years as its position means the farrier can sometimes only get 4 nails in that shoe. At one time I had to have a filler in the crack.
However this horse retired a year ago at the age of 26 after a career as a racehorse, endurance horse, hunter, broodmare and riding club horse so it didn't affect her working life. I just relied on a very good farrier.
 
I have a pony on my yard who split her coronet band in November, the vet did exactly as your vet is suggesting, he bandaged her heavily for 2 days to stop proud flesh then came back and put a cast on, I know it sounds a bit extreem but after 4 weeks on box rest the cast came off and the coronet band is completely healed and really good new hoof growth, by having the cast on the hoof can only grow in the correct position and no proud growth. Also they need limited mobility to aid healing. It was a complete success she was sound the whole time and foot now looks great.
Wishing you the best of luck x
 
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Get a second opinion from a less scissor happy vet

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I completely agree!

Are you sure that this "split coronet" isn't an abscess exit wound? Is it along the coronet line, or upwards through and away from it? If it's along it then ten to one it's an abscess exit and the hoof will grow down perfectly happily if you leave it alone!

Any chance of a picture?
 
I'll get a picture on here tonight but its vertical through the coronary band not along it and its right in the middle of the foot. He seems to be sound on it although I have noticed he doesn't stand on that leg when resting, there is no heat or swelling but that may be due to the -8 degree temperature outside! I have great confidence in my vet who know's what my horse has been throguh and I really don't believe they wodul suggest this if it wasn't necessary. Feeling really stressed out by it all, this on top of the ligament injury - argh!!! Where he is there are no stables so I have to transport him to a local stables...now in the dilemma of is it sensible to travel a horse in such conditions??
 
Hi, my gelding split his from coronet band right down the front of his hoof! wil try and add pic, it was a complete and utter nightmare to be honest as had proud flesh for at least a month, vet out every week, chronically lame the whole time, vet was deciding whether to put on a cast when all of a sudden it had grown down enough to stop the proud flesh and he was sound again! BUT didnt end there, he also has the split down front of hoof which if I hadnt swapped farriers would have split open all over again when the injury hit the toe as it didnt have the right support :-( After new farrier it looks totally normal and he is fine to ride again - farrier glued hoof and did alsorts of balancing stuff to make sure it doesnt get worse, its taken 8mths from 1st injury to get to this stage so sorry to say it will be a long process but the good news is my vet thought damage would be permanent and hoof deformed for good! After the cast get a really good remedial farrier out to have a look may make all this difference :-)
 
forgot to add my boy was on total box rest until the proud flesh had gone, best thing is to keep them from moving about as much as poss to give bes chance to heal and give it support. Try not to stress, I thought I was going to lose my boy at 1st but dont give up hope, he's proof it can competely mend :-)
 
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