Phaultless’s Coffin Bone Injury

Phaultless is a five-year-old bay thoroughbred/warmblood gelding. Katlyn first purchased the gelding when he was one year of age, and boarded him at CC Stables. Once he was four years old, Katlyn started riding him. Prior to his injury, Katlyn was regularly riding Phaultless five days a week. Their daily exercise activities consisted of flatwork, with the recent introduction of small jumps.

Clinical Presentation

One windy afternoon, Katlyn decided to lunge Phaultless before riding him, in order to gauge just how spirited he might be feeling that day. All of a sudden, something spooked him---causing him to gallop off at full speed around the outdoor arena. Katlyn was able to retrieve the gelding fairly quickly, however unfortunately it was not quick enough. She started to walk Phaultless to help cool him down, and noticed he was slightly lame. As they walked, she noticed that he progressively got more and more sore on his right front foot, and within 30 minutes, he was severely lame and could barely put any weight on it. Katlyn immediately consulted with the stable owner, who called their local veterinary clinic.

Diagnosis

Dr. Cantin from TM’z Veterinary Clinic in Lumsden, Saskatchewan was able to come out fairly quickly to examine Phaultless. Upon arrival, since Dr. Cantin was not Phaultless’s usual vet, Katlyn filled him in about her gelding’s history and the recent events which lead up to his injury. Dr. Cantin palpated the gelding’s lower legs and feet, to assess for signs of swelling, heat, and/or pain—-there wasn’t any. He started to perform a lameness exam. However, it was cut short since Phaultless was obviously lame at the walk, and was reluctant even to walk at all. Dr. Cantin took digital radiographs of the gelding’s right front foot, which revealed that Phaultless sustained a coffin bone fracture in his front right foot.

Treatment

Dr. Marshall recommended immediate stall confinement for at least four months. She preferred to be conservative about the time the gelding spent on stall rest, since he was so young; she wanted his foot to heal properly to minimize any future problems. Dr. Marshall advised Katlyn to speak with her farrier about putting special corrective horseshoes on Phaultless, to help take pressure off the injured area to help it heal.

Progress Update

So far, it has been one month since Phaultless’s started stall rest. He has handled the confinement really well. Katlyn has tried to make his stall more entertaining for him by adding some ‘lick-it’ type horse treats and spends a few hours a day hand grazing, grooming and keeping him company during this time. During this time, Katlyn has decided to start teaching Phaultless tricks! She is currently working on getting him to ‘smile’, ‘hug’, and a modified bow.