Slit nostril - nobody does this deliberately, do they?

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

My horse Conjure has a slit nostril. See here?

He’s had it ever since I’ve known him - five years now. The edges are healed completely, but still separated. It’s a neat, straight incision with no evidence of any attempt at stitches.

I’m always asked if it was done deliberately and if so, why. To which I always reply:

All I know about Conjure’s history is that he was born and raised out west (Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming), trained as a western horse (though not a show horse), and then lived in NC very briefly before I bought him.

I realize this sounds kind of out there, but does anyone know of any reason anyone would’ve deliberately slit his nostril? Maybe to identify him - he is a horse in a plain grey wrapper otherwise? Or to mark some event/accomplishment/accident/injury in his past that people in his future should know about?

Crazy question, I know. Probably he caught it on a bucket. But the cut is just so perfectly straight I have to wonder.

[floppyammy]

Every horse I’ve ever known that had a slit nostril (and there have been a few) have done it on a bucket and it was not deliberate. I’ve seen a few slit eyelids from buckets too.

[S1969]

I’ve had two different horses do this - source of the injury unknown for both of them. But possibly a water bucket even though it didn’t look possible…other possibilities could include a broken or protruding piece of wire from fencing somewhere, a nail or sharp edge to a fence post, etc. The vet said these usually are punctures and then the horse pulls back and creates the laceration.

I doubt it was done intentionally, but I can say for sure that my horse would have looked like that without stitches. I think it would have healed ok (but probably painfully), but definitely would have created that open slit scar.

[trubandloki]

I have a horse with a slit like this. Her breeder says she does not know how it happened, the foal showed up at the gate like that one day.

[roseymare]

Injury. Probably caught and then ripped. Had it been sutured would have healed barely noticeable. Probably wasn’t caught in time to suture.

[Riverotter]

Horses can get hurt so many ways … I once saw one rip an eyelid nearly off rubbing his face on a cinderblock wall. They just have this amazing ability to find the one, teeny thing that can hurt them all out of proportion
Unless I had reason to believe otherwise, I’d assume it was an accident.