Equine keratoma is described as a benign epithelial tumor of the hoof capsule. It accounts for approximately 3% of the cases presented for treatment or necropsy at equine hospitals across Europe and veterinary schools in North America.¹

Keratomas can appear as cylindrical, looking like columns found deep behind the hoof wall and oriented parallel to the horn tubules. These masses typically present as aberrant columnar-shaped proliferation and thickening of keratin within the horn that extends toward the inside of the hoof.²

In addition, spherical keratomas occur, even if they are less common and have been reported in the frog, in the sole and above the coronary band. There is still a lack of knowledge about the etiology of keratomas in horses. However, they seem to develop because of localized chronic irritation, inflammation or trauma to the germinal layers of the epithelium of the hoof.^2,3,4 Therefore, keratomas often are seen in hoof regions with recurrent abscesses migrating through the lamellar layer of the inner hoof capsule or as the result of chronic, deep, or even bleeding hoof cracks.

The chronic irritation of the dermis and stratum…