Coronary Band Injuries?

QUESTION: 

Dear Dr. Tom:

About 3 - 4 weeks ago, it had been very wet out and when my horse came in I noticed these indents. I put on betadine which is causing the orange coloring. Since this made the holes more noticeable, I'm sending to you to see what you think they are. 

My vet suggested abcesses, but I honestly don't think that is it. She does have stone bruising however. Now the marks have grown down a bit with the hoof growth. Any ideas? Oh and it's more noticeable when the hoof is wet. When hoof is dry you have to look real hard to see them. They were on both the front and back hooves. I also applied anti fungal cream to see if that would help. Not sure if it helped or not. 

Patsy

DR. TOM'S ANSWER:

October 27, 2004

The coronary band is a very active part of the horse's hoof. Any sort of trauma or inflammation or infection in this area could cause the marks you are seeing. It will be interesting for you to keep an eye on whether these grow down the hoof only to the end of the periople or further on down with the outer wall. 

Traumatic causes could be anything from bruising to small punctures, to insect bites, scraping from brush or rocks or when laying down or the horse itching herself.

Inflammation of the perioplic corium is generally from excessive concussion...either direct/traumatic concussion or from movement on too hard of ground. These sores could be more noticeable now that they are being invaded by the local bacteria, causing heat and pain and swelling. You didn't mention if they were sore to the touch.

If I saw these on a horse that had mouth sores as well, or fever or other symptoms of infection, I'd be suspicious of a viral cause, such as vesicular stomatitis, which can cause lesions like this on the coronary bands. Keep checking all four feet and check in the horse's mouth for any sores...if there are any I would call your local veterinarian. Blood can be taken and tested for the viruses that can cause these sores. Hopefully you don't have a horse with a viral vesicular disease...even though it's not fatal and the horses recover, it's a pain to nurse them through stuff like this.

Let us know how it looks in a week or two...it's a really interesting case you've got there!