Missing Portion of coffin bone

[AMWookey]

Before I owned my horse, he had an abcess that took part of his coffin bone with him when it went (so I was told) I’ve seen the xrays, it looks like roughly 2-3 8ths of it. I bought him fully aware of this, figuring we would just do dressage and maybe some light jumping eventually.

His facts:
8 years old Holsteiner gelding, 15.3hh, solid boy. Gelded and started at 5. Injury was right around then. I keep him shod, but no pads as he doesn’t hold shoes well, and doesn’t hold onto them at all with pads.
I bought him at 6, and started doing light and slow work with him. He has never been lame on that leg since I have owned him, but it is a bit crooked which I assume was due to the abcess.

I spoke to other vets then my own, as my vet knew him with the previous owner, and is a doom and gloomer type who stated that since he wouldn’t pass a vet check, and he was a difficult horse, he was worthless. The other vets, in casual conversations basically said, if he isn’t broke, don’t worry about it. Meaning that he is sound, I am not jumping him daily, there is no reason not to continue to do what I want with him.

I am mostly just curious if anyone has come across this before? We have started to do some jumping this year, he is a natural at it and he loves it. He really has the makings of a lovely hunter. He isn’t comfortable hacking out (by himself he is a baby), and while he has the skills to do dressage, neither of us LOVE it. So I would like to continue teaching him to do little hunter courses, knowing we probably won’t make it over 3ft.

This is a forever horse. My goal with him is simple, I want to be able to give him the ride he deserves because he is really quite lovely and I am a re-rider, and I want us to have fun, and stay sound. But should he not, well he has a forever home with us. But I also don’t want to use that as an excuse to do whatever I want with him without regards to whether he will break down.

Any personal experience with this? I have read a great deal about coffin bone fractures and how the horses can return to full work, curious if I am always worrying about a ghost with him.

[tabula_rashah]

My mare is missing part of hers due to a bone infection. She does 25 mile CTR and LD’s (endurance) and doesn’t take an off step.

[AKB]

My friend’s 7 year old Holsteiner lost a piece of his coffin bone during surgery for a big abscess at age 5. She was told by the surgeon to do whatever she wanted with him. He is eventing at Novice without any problems.

[Frizzle]

I once saw a horse that was missing something like 1/3 of both front coffin bones. She was barefoot and pasture sound, although I believe she might have had to use boots during turnout.

If your horse is sound, I would just keep an eye on things. Since you don’t plan on jumping over 3’, he’ll most likely be fine. You’ll just have to make sure that you really keep his hooves in check, since bad farrier work can make even a horse without any previous issues unsound. Have you tried anything like Tildren or Osphos to see if any of the bone can be regrown?

[Preposterous_Ponies]

My mare is missing part of her coffin bone. She came back 100% from the first bone infection. The infection then came back a few months later and we’re hoping she will again come back to full work, but the bone is quite eroded at this point. She is happy to be ridden, but is occasionally a bit hitchy in that leg. We’re taking it slow and trying some different shoeing options. I will be jumping her tomorrow (her first time over fences since round two of the bone infection).

If the horse was already shown to be back in full work, it would not concern me. I wouldn’t hesistate to jump your horse, though I would keep it in the back of my mind and perhaps take extra cautions (shoes, pad, ect) if needed.

[AMWookey]

These replies all make me really happy. I have always been super careful with his feet, gave him 6 months off at one point to rebuild what the farrier did to him prior to getting him (epoxy doesn’t count as hoof wall), and I have learned that he needs to be hot shod with a top notch farrier who takes their time making adjustments. He isn’t made to sit in a pasture though, or to do pleasure riding. He becomes the biggest jerk if we aren’t working. So feeling more confident that we can just keep working and that others have managed it is a great thing!

[Texarkana]

If it’s not currently bothering him, I wouldn’t lose sleep about it.

I’ve had a few like this and most had no issues staying servicably sound for the regular rider.

I currently have one who lost so much of her coffin bone due to infection that quite a number of well respected vets/farriers proclaimed she would “never be sound,” “never be able to be turned out,” and “never be able to live without support on that hoof.” She currently lives out barefoot 24/7 and you’d never know anything was wrong with her.

(Just a note: I’m not condoning that sort of reckless disregard for professional opinions. In this mare’s case, she’s an aged horse with not a lot of other options. Giving her a good quality of life for her remaining days far outweighs the risk at this point, so I’m very lucky she is comfortable. She is also very lucky her current vet/farrier disagreed with the other opinions or else she would not be here.)