A Broken Coffin Bone on a Horse

The coffin bone of your horse is the lowermost bone in the foot of the horse and connects to leg muscles. Possible damage to a horse's coffin bone can occur more easily to a foal because the bone is still soft and developing.

  1. Injury

    • Coffin bone fractures typically occur when the horse takes sharp turns while running. When ground forces on the developing coffin bone exert pressure in one direction, "the deep flexor tendon pulls the coffin bone in another direction, causing a bone fracture," according to the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine's website.

    Frequency of Occurrences

    • Injuries to a coffin bone, for the most part, are not common when compared to other bone fractures. In fact, these bone fractures are most present in standard bred racehorses, Quarter horses and Thoroughbred racehorses and foals, stresses the American Association of Equine Practitioners website.

    Treatment

    • Coffin bone fractures can be successfully treated by relegating your horse to stall rest as well as applying a bar shoe with "either multiple quarter clips or a forged rim and a full pad," emphasizes the American Association of Equine Practitioners website.