Coffin bone photos

Below are some photos of the coffin bone. You will see how it sits parallel to the ground and also
how that translates to the cross section view shown
in the barefoot hoof diagrams.

When viewing cross section diagrams it is often difficult to understand talk of ground parallel coffin bones as the bone looks to be at an angle to the ground.

However, this is purely due to the nature of cross sections. The photos below illustrate how this comes about. In the one on the left you can see the whole bone and you can see how the bottom edge is parallel to the ground. The one on the right shows the cross section (where the bone is cut in half). This makes it look like the bottom edge (which is really the underside and is concave) is at an angle to the ground.

Cross section of the hoof capsule

Coffin bone (left) and cross section (right)

Coffin bone views

Note: The bones shown are not perfect specimens and have some deformities. They were taken from a cadaver (dead) hoof which had large cracks in the hoof wall and showed signs of rotation (founder). But they do illustrate the basic shape of the bone.