Page 99 - Speedhorse June 2020

Accidents and injuries are fairly common in horses because they are large, strong, and highly mobile animals that instinc- tively spook and run from danger in their natural state. Domestic horses living in small enclosures frequently injure themselves more commonly than a less mobile species. Horses with athletic careers often have greater risks for injury because of the speeds they travel, and because of increased stresses on feet and legs compared to horses in less active disciplines.
Coronary band injuries are often trau- matic. These injuries can happen if a horse tangles with a fence or puts a foot somewhere it doesn’t belong. They may occur even more often in racehorses and performance horses working at speed—catching one foot with another. Duncan Peters DVM, DACVSMR, ISELP Certified Member, East-West Equine Sports Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky, says many of these coronary band injuries are severe lacerations.
“In racehorses, injuries sometimes occur when horses are wearing shoes with toe grabs. A lot of race trainers don’t have their horses shod with toe grabs as much as they used
to, but some still do. If the horse gets a little unbalanced during a race or speed workout, one foot may come up and catch the coronary band of another foot and cause significant trauma. This might be anything from bruising to lacerations,” he says.
Dr. Mark Cassells of Homestead Veteri- nary Hospital in Villa Ridge, Missouri, says some coronary band injuries can be problem- atic for future soundness if they are not han- dled appropriately. “Horses can easily injure the coronary band if another foot comes up and lands on the coronary band—which may bruise or slice it,” says Cassells. “This might be an opposite limb or a hind foot landing on a foreleg.
“The coronary band is very vascular, with a good blood supply, so it bleeds easily. It also contains the germinal layer of cells that pro- duce hoof horn.”
The hoof wall grows down from the coronary band. If that area is damaged too much, it can no longer produce normal, strong hoof horn. There may forever be a part of the hoof wall that is weaker and more prone to hoof cracks.
“Even without a laceration, there may be serious bruising,” says Peters. “Some of those tissues underneath the coronary band may have prolonged soreness. There is good blood and nerve supply in that area, and trauma to those underlying tissues can be very painful. There
is quite a bit of movement there; the coronary band has to flex and move every time the horse puts that foot down.“I’ve seen horses that bang a foot or step on themselves with dramatic bruising on the coronary band,” Peters con- tinues. “You can often see a red spot on the coronary band at the top of the hoof, especially in a white-footed horse. You can actually see that red spot in the hoof wall grow down as
the hoof grows. This means there was probably some bruising and a hematoma under there, and some of those horses will stay sore and a
bit lame on that foot for 3 weeks to a couple of months.”These kinds of injuries can happen in many ways. Besides the damage that may occur while working at speed, a horse might stick a foot under the edge of a stall wall or the metal sheeting of a building or shed and create a serious injury. A horse might paw at a fence and get a hoof caught. Wire cuts at the coronary
EQUINE HEALTH
CORONARY BAND INJURIES
by Heather Smith Thomas
“The coronary band is very vascular, with a good blood supply, so it bleeds easily. It also contains the germinal layer of cells that produce hoof horn.”
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