Collateral ligament damage plus fluid around the navicular bone..........any ideas?

[Horseowner123]

Hi all,

I am posting with the hope of getting some success stories from you all after the most horrific couple of days

Firstly my old boy was put down yesterday after owning him for 18 years and then we have been told my competition horse needs times off.....a lot of time off

My comp horse went for an MRI on his right fore and hind and the findings are as follows:

* fore - slight fluid next the navicular bursa, vet has suggested medicating this area and doesn't see much issue with this rectifying itself and becoming sound
* hind - collateral ligament damage from wear and tear, to what extent we are not sure yet - have suggest either rest, medicate the area but would advise surgery to find the exact damage and go from there.

My questions are:

* Does anyone have experience with this?
* Did you rest, medicate or go straight to surgery?
* How long was the box rest?
* How long was the recovery?
* Did you ever get back to the level you were previously at?

I am trying to remain positive but unfortunately this is dwindling so I could do with some inspiration but similarly I do not want to build false hope so truthful experiences welcome.

Many thanks

Casey

 

[Dynamo]

Answers in order of your questions:
Yes!
Medication and rest
Six weeks then some walking in-hand
Three months prescribed, but actually gave him another three months off work
Yes, jumping and dressage and sustained soundness at the level we were at and did not push him further; still sound now.

The thing to ask the vet regarding surgery/medication is whether the treatment protocol will be any different with/without the surgical intervention to find the damage, or will the protocol still be medication and rest, albeit with a greater level of information?

Field rest can work wonders if you have the patience.

 

[Horseowner123]

Thank you. I'm just trying to gather as much information as I can. It all seems very doom and gloom so I'm looking for positivity as I am not giving up on this boy!

 

[Regandal]

If I had a horse with any pathology around the navicular, I would whip it’s shoes off. The earlier the better, and do a barefoot rehab. Speaking as owner of a navicular horse, who unfortunately never came sound.

 

[Horseowner123]

Is this front and back as he doesn't have back shoes on anyway?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I think that for clarity, it should be stated that having a horse unshod is not the same as a proper barefoot rehab. I'm sure that i have read in the past (on the Rockley blog) that they had a horse that had no shoes in for rehab. I can't quite remember if it had ever been shod, or just not for a long time.

 

[Regandal]

Barefoot all round. If you go onto the Rockley website you can read up on navicular syndrome and rehab. Anything else is just delaying the inevitable. Good luck.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

Yep, front shoes off and barefoot rehab. Immerse yourself in the Rockley Farm blog and start to feel a lovely glimmer of hope shine through!

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2019/04/navicular-degeneration-prognosis.html?m=1

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2019/05/if-you-always-do-what-youve-always-done.html?m=1

The basics are:

Diet (start with Thunderbrooks & Agrobs)
Supplements (equimins, forage plus, progressive earth)
Movement (not box rest)
Boots & pads, if needed
Trimming (not by the farrier and self trimming ideally).