Help...my poor unicorn

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DiamondMartella

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My poor unicorn has been diagnosed with Navicular. She is 15 and I feel awful thinking about what pain she might be in or possibly has been in for years! So far her prognosis isn't awfully bad, she can still be ridden but can no longer jump the height she used to (some lovely person then suggested I just bute her and jump her anyway...). I know this is a degenerative condition but I just wondered how people manage it from their own experiences? Do you go barefoot or pads and shoes? Are there any supplements out there that are worth a go?!
Iv been reading every article I can possibly find online and its all a bit mind boggling!
I just want to make her as comfortable as I can do as she's my one in a lifetime :(
Thank you.
 
My friend have a horse of a lifetime with navicular too which with appropriate shoeing (seek your farrier's advice on what is best for your horse and the stage of her condition) and pain management was ridden up until the last 18 months of his life. When she had to stop riding she used to take him out in hand and her husband took him running with him! I would say they probably had 10 years of fun and enjoyment and the horse had an excellent quality of life.

Work with your vet and farrier and read your horse and there will be be plenty of good times ahead xx
 
My horse was diagnosed with what looked like the beginnings of navicular 3 years ago. We kept him in shoes at first and kept the toes trimmed back well, with plenty of heel support (but not lifting/wedging the heels as my farrier/vet said this can make matters worse). He's recently gone barefoot though, and I'm hoping this will help his soundness in the long run. He has stayed sound for about 75% of the last 3 years but we medicate his navicular bursae whenever he goes a bit 'footy' and it always helps get him sound again. Worst he's been is 4/10ths lame on a circle on the hard. He's pretty much always sound on a surface.

Navicular is a very broad term though. My horse has no damage to the DDFT and comparatively insignificant changes to the navicular bone. My vet described it as more like bursitis, similar to tennis elbow in a human. It's a repetitive inflammatory disease that we have to manage carefully, but he is still happily competing at BE90 (ground depending).

It would be a completely different story if there is more significant degrading of the navicular bone and/or damage to the DDFT or surrounding soft tissues. Best thing you can do is to get an MRI scan to see exactly what you're working with.

I've done a lot of research since his diagnosis and taking the shoes off to let the hoof 'do it's own thing' seems to be the most popular approach anecdotally. Sometimes remedial shoeing is needed for a period of time to get the foot in a better state before taking the shoes off, it depends on the individual horse.
 
DiamondMartella said:
My poor unicorn has been diagnosed with Navicular. She is 15 and I feel awful thinking about what pain she might be in or possibly has been in for years! So far her prognosis isn't awfully bad, she can still be ridden but can no longer jump the height she used to (some lovely person then suggested I just bute her and jump her anyway...). I know this is a degenerative condition but I just wondered how people manage it from their own experiences? Do you go barefoot or pads and shoes? Are there any supplements out there that are worth a go?!
Iv been reading every article I can possibly find online and its all a bit mind boggling!
I just want to make her as comfortable as I can do as she's my one in a lifetime :(
Thank you.
Click to expand...

So my old horse was diagnosed at roughly 5 i think (it was a long time ago) hers was pretty significant and she had remedial shoeing with pads, she went on to the age of 20 like that until hock arthritis and a shoulder injury meant she was no longer comfortable.
If this happened to me again i would 100% go down the barefoot rehabilitation route, at that time when mine was diagnosed it wasn't even given as an option and i certainly didn't have the knowledge that i do and the research resources were limited at that time. Also tildren wasn't an option for me which alot of people swear by.
The diagnosis is upsetting of course but there is alot that can be done and when you get the feet right you will be surprised how comfy she can come back. I didn't really jump much after the diagnosis just the odd log etc, she had some trouble walking down steep hills but other than that she went on to do well for me at BD, so it doesn't have to be the end of the world, read up on Rockley farm as i am sure they do barefoot rehab for this kind of thing.
 
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