I have a 9 yr. old paint with a near side fore hoof issue. Top of the hoof, below the corinary band is sowllen, this is

Thank you for posting your question I would like to obtain some additional history from you to get a better understanding of your situation without being physically able to examine the horse.1) Pictures do help and I would advise for you to post pictures of the hoof and subsequent x-rays if possible.2) How man views were taking when taking radiographs (x-ray) of the hoof?3) Was the bulging of the hoof present prior to lameness becoming apparent?4) Is the region painful when hoof testers were applied? Looking forward to hearing from youDr. Braha40950.6959512731

You mentioned that there was no broken bones on the x-rays but was there any gas trapped (black color) underneath the area of swelling associated with the hoof? Or was it all the same type of grey shade under the swelling?

Last question, did your Vet mention your horse having any abnormalities with his white line on the sole surface of the foot?

The nerve blocks are fast and easy to perform although they will not give you a diagnosis there will confirm the location of the pain. MRI's are wonderful at diagnosing soft tissue injury to the foot. Structures include: deep digital flexor tendon, navicular bursa, impar ligament, sesamoiXXXXX XXXXXgaments, collateral ligaments, cartilage, all of these are located in the heel region of the horse so I have a hard time connecting the bulge that has formed over a short duration of time in the front surface of the hoof. The extensor tendon does attach to the top of the coffin bone on the front side within the hoof but I would suspect changes on x-rayif the part of the coffin bone that this extensor tendon connects to had broken off. Has the diagnosis of a Keratoma pursued? This is a growth that occurs that is made up of what we call keratin. It grows in-between the hoof wall and the coffin bone in the hoof. The growth begins near the coronary band and will extend downwards. A visible deviation to the hoof is common with this condition. The pain is attributed to the pressure it applies both to the coffin bone and laminae (white line) within the hoof. Any age of horse can be affected. The lameness is often present before the bulge is noted. The lameness will start of slow but as it grows it will become more severe. When performing a nerve block it show some responsiveness to when the 1st nerve block is performed (PD nerve block) but will improve substantially with the 2nd nerve block (abaxial nerve block). There are sometimes changes to the coffin bone seen on x-ray but not always. Treatment involves surgical removal of the mass which has a good prognosis provided it's removed in it's entirety.