heel pain?

[TarantuLove]

My boy has been barefoot for 2 years now, but the vet has diagnosed pain in both front heels - possibly navicular. Is there any way I can keep the shoes off, or would it be best to shoe him in front w/ pads. Any experiences?

 

[scotsmare]

I think you really need a set of x-rays to discover the exact cause of the pain - if it's navicular / bilateral heel pain due to under-run heels then it's likely your vet will recommend corrective farriery of some description (ie wedge shoes / pads / heart bars).

 

[hellybelly6]

My vet thought my horse had navicular, sidebone, ring bone you name it.

Following x-rays, it showed he had a mediolatera foot imbalance and side bone only. Remedial farriery really helped.

The only way to be sure is with x-rays.

 

[brightmount]

Paradoxically, the shoes came OFF my horse following her MRI scans that showed she had navicular. Barefoot is a recognised therapeutic approach to the problem (ref Pete Ramey) so there's no reason to shoe. However a lot may depend on how well your horse's feet are balanced, and you may need to get the opinion of another farrier.

If you are insured with Petplan (I don't know about the others) you could possibly claim the cost of MRI which will tell you more than x-rays as you can see the soft tissues in the foot that are being affected.

In the short term, you might consider hoof boots such as Old Macs on the front which should provide some relief when ridden. Even better with pads inside.

 

[TPO]

QR- Very long story full of useless vets and farriers but I went "unshod" with my QH who is lame because of a cyst on her navicular bone. I just got a new practice out and new (amazing) vet said a horse in her situation remedial shoeing (eggbars with wedges and gel pack) as being unshod, no matter what trim or how well balanced, will "help" the problem. Just my 2p worth

 

[RachelB]

"Heel pain" isn't really an accurate enough diagnosis to say for sure what would help the problem. My horse had very very serious "heel pain" (burning hot heels, couldn't stand on the left one let alone walk) which went through various stages of tentative diagnoses including navicular disease and ended up being MRI'ed as a torn deep flexor tendon ("navicular syndrome" as she tore it right below the navicular bone, so it is pain from that region). It could be anything, and until you know what it is then you can't really say what style of shoeing/trimming would help.

 

[Marchtime]

I'm afraid I agree with 'Silmarillion'. Heel pain is a term that is now fairly out of date. It was previously used to refer to a number of problems that were unidentifiable. Nowadays with new diagnostic techniques what was originally 'heel pain' can now be anything from navicular, to soft tissue damage within the foot. I'd want a firmer diagnosis. If it is navicular it should be obvious on x-rays, if it isn't clear from x-rays I'd suggest it could be soft tissue damage which needs rest to heal.