Navicular and barefoot - thoughts

[spotty_pony]

As title. I am going to have a chat with my vet in the morning about this. To cut a very long story short my ISH has tears to both DDFT In in his hooves with lesions forming and swelling in the navicular bursae. He spent the day at Rossdales in June where he had an MRI, was remedially shod and had the navicular bursae injected. He was doing really well, had two weeks off and we started walk work and built from there and started trotting at the end of August, all in straight lines and only trotting on a suitable surface off road (which wr xannto do now due to the ground so we are back to walk work only). Recently he takes one lame step when he comes out of the stable in the morning and is very slightly off when trotted up but Vet said so slight you would only know if you knew him before the issues started. I have been reading with interest the benefits of barefoot rehab for this type of injury and the success rate is quite high so I am considering taking his shoes off. He is currently only shod in front anyway.
Just wondering if anyone had any experience with this and has any advice? Got to convince my farrier yet that it's the right thing to do too..!

 

[Orangehorse]

Have you looked at the Rockley Farm website? Lots of farriers will say that it is only a fad and continue to trim the foot for a shoe, which takes off too much hoof. Others are more helpful. The aim is to thicken and strengthen the sole and to re-build and develop the internal structures at the back of the hoof.

It is likely that your vet hasn't heard of barefoot navicular rehab, so reference to Rockley Farm success stories might be a surprise for them. But not every horse will succeed, there might be too much internal damage, or other reasons, so you have to go into it with a very open mind and let the horse be the teacher.

It isn't just a matter of taking the shoes off, there is a whole lot more to consider like how the horse is kept, how much exercise it has, what diet, getting rid of any fungal problems like thrush and white line disease (there are products to do this, but it is being aware that this is necessary). This is why a trimmer is sometimes better than a farrier, although they probably charge more for "just a trim" but they have that extra experience and advice for you. Also if you hit a problem or plateau the farrier would tend to say "let's put the shoes back on" whereas a trimmer can't do that.

I would say that to start re-hab get some hoof boots with soft pads inside. These provide comfort for the horse and allow it to exercise and it is exercise that will gradually strengthen the foot and develop the internal structures. Take it slowly. Hooves take much longer to re-build. Although within a month of taking the shoes off you will notice the the hoof growth from the coronet band is much steeper as the hoof grows downwards.

Consistency is important, which is why I had shoes put back on my horse. I was very busy in other parts of my life which meant that I never knew if the horse would be ridden 3 times a week or once a fortnight. My trimmer was very sympathetic and agreed that my horse, with his feet and constitution and the way he is kept, needed that stimulus of regular exercise to keep him sound barefoot, hence the shoes went back on.

But I am convinced that his period out of shoes and the difference in his way of moving prevented him developing navicular, when I look back.

 

[emfen1305]

I have a navicular horse and have just taken the shoes off, could never really pin point the exact lameness but he had lesions to DDFT and synovitis in both coffin joints so was treated for both with steroids and shockwaves and shod is remedial shoes with a mid plate - all fine for a year, came back into work and then towards the end of the summer he started feeling a bit off but I put it down to hard ground and doing too much hacking in a short space of time, and then he trotted up short for his physio appointment so got farrier back out and said i thought he was being shod a little short at the heel and could he have more length. Still wasn't quite right and then he pulled a shoe in my lesson and took half the foot with it so had no choice to go barefoot. I had been thinking about it for a while as like you, i'd read all the benefits of barefoot but I just didn't expect it to be so soon (I was on a if it ain't broke, don't fix it!)

Anyway it's been 5 weeks and honestly so far it's the best decision I have made. He looks and feels amazing, I didn't expect to be on him this side of Christmas but he was just doing so well on the ground that I got my friend to ride him and she said he felt great and he looked fab so I've just cracked on on soft surfaces and he's going from strength to strength! I am very much led by him but he's looking at lot sounder than he was in September! I got a trimmer on board to help me out too as like Orangehorse says, they bring a wealth of knowledge (but do watch out for the dodgy ones, there are some out there like farriers!)

I did try before, about 2 years ago but I don't think I got it right with the diet and the work, it was around December time, the ground was really frosty and I pussy footed around him and didn't do anything other than walk him to and from the field. This time he's been worked on surface or grass everyday since the shoes came off and he has more turnout and he's much better for it and it's amazing how quickly the feet change!

Good luck if you decide to go for it, do all the reading on Rockley, join the barefoot method for navicular FB page. PM if you need moral support!

 

[Brownmare]

One of mine has undiagnosed navicular (all the symptoms but didn't do the MRI / Xrays as I was going to do a barefoot rehab anyway). The best advice I can give is to get the diet nailed before removing shoes - sugar and starch combined below 10%, a decent mineral supplement with high levels of copper and zinc but no added iron, good levels of vitamin E and Omega 3 in the winter, and avoid alfalfa to be on the safe side. Also, before removing shoes, make sure there is no thrush lurking in any cracks or creases in the frogs but use gentle treatments like cider vinegar and hoof clays not anything caustic that will kill healthy tissue. There is a Facebook group called Barefoot Method for Navicular that is worth joining too.

For my horse, the things that made the biggest difference for her in addition to the above were booting for turnout as well as riding in the early stages (achieving a consistent heel first landing is crucial) and trimming every 2 weeks to keep her toes back and bring her heels upright as they were completely collapsed and folded over. I trim my own horses but any decent barefoot trimmer will be happy to give you a worn out rasp and show you how to do basic maintenance between their visits. Good luck!

 

[SEL]

It's definitely worth a shot but not a miracle cure. I have a 10yo diagnosed with damage to the navicular bone on x ray who has never been shod, always had feet that looked good on the outside and had a heel first landing. I haven't done an MRI because money is tight right now and I'm not sure what I'd do differently.

The major advantage to taking shoes off is you don't mask anything. I know someone trying to rehab much milder damage than my mare with wedges and the horse is constantly "ok then sore then ok again then sore again etc" I suspect constantly sore tbh but it's getting masked at points in the shoeing cycle.

Regular trims are critical. My farrier has delayed us a week and i can really see the difference annoyingly.

 

[spotty_pony]

Thank you everyone so far, keep them coming! Here he is sporting his new haircut ?

 

[soapy]

Barefoot is the only thing that worked for me.

My horse became on/off lame after doing a XC day (this was 9 years ago). Because his lameness was on/off it took ages to properly diagnose. Initial x-rays showed a chip off the pedal bone. And after x-rays, injections and wotnot, the insurance case was closed before I could get an MRI. However, I did have a bone scan which showed heat indicating Navicular. I suspect he'd probably had soft-tissue/tendon damage too. Anyway, long story short, he had joints injected, remedial shoeing and all sorts until the vet started talking about de-nerving. He ended up hobbling and 6/10 lame. At that point I did my own research into barefoot (using a book called Feet First: Barefoot Training and Rehabilitation). It's full of really useful case-studies and just made sense to me in a way the vets and farriers didn't. With advice from the book I filmed my horse walking trotting and confirmed he was landing toe-first in front. So off came his shoes! He was terrible at first (like us trying to walk barefoot on sharp stones) but after 3 months on a track system until he got used to it. He's been sound ever since. I don't even have his feet trimmed anymore. I just make sure we do enough on the road and hard surfaces to wear his hooves into a shape/balance he's happy with. His heels are a lot less contracted and his frogs are much bigger and healthier than when he was shod. I've worked out that what I have saved in farriers bills has not only paid for his rehab but has paid for the horse as well!

The secret to successful barefoot is less trimming and more road work. That's what works for me anyway. I admire and respect farriers and vets but they often don't consider the simplest and most natural solution. If I'd have waited for them to tell me what to do I probably wouldn't have my horse now. Sometimes you have to follow your gut instincts.

Finally, I know some barefoot people can sound evangelical (like me!), and I know all horses are different, but if barefoot is done properly (with the horses diet also taken into account), and given a few months to work I do think most horses can benefit.

 

[scruffyponies]

he secret to successful barefoot is less trimming and more road work

This is so true. With enough road work some of them don't need trimming at all, and others just need the odd bit of shaping where a flare is starting to develop. I have one little Dartmoor who has never been trimmed in his life... by me or a farrier. He wears evenly on the tarmac, and has beautiful, perfect little feet.

That said, when I had a navicular horse, we used hoof boots, and then Cyteks. Poor thing just wasn't comfortable unshod.

 

[paddi22]

I'm another one who took shoes off a navicular horse due to intermittent lameness a few months ago. I am amazed how much his hoof shape and the quality of the hoof has changed. He was in boots for a while but now I'm starting to be able to ride him on roads without them. I have now changed all mine to a low starch sugar diet and won't be shoeing any going forward if possible.

 

[Annagain]

Archie has just retired (at 25 plus I should add!) due to foot problems. He's had them since he was 12 and I agonised over barefoot / remedial shoeing for ages. In discussion with my farrier and vet we agreed to give remedial shoeing a go and if that didn't help him we'd try barefoot. We went for this option because we could have spent months getting him comfortable barefoot, only for it not to work whereas if the remedial shoeing wasn't working we could change it in an hour.

The remedial shoeing did work for many years and he was comfortable and out hacking until last summer. He had the coffin joint medicated in September and was great all winter but we stopped riding with the first lockdown and he was never right after that, despite another injection so he retired in June, 15 years after I bought him and 13 years after the first problem. I was told when he had that first problem I'd be lucky to get him to 20. He's officially 24 but vet and two different dentists think he's a bit older.

He is now barefoot and seems to be coping well, although he hasn't left the field since having his shoes off 6 weeks ago - we took the backs off in June, removed the front wedges in August and the front shoes completely at the beginning of October. I've done everything with him in the field since then to give him time to adjust but he'll have to start walking from the field to the yard (about 30m) in the next few weeks when they have to come in overnight so we'll see how he manages then.

 

[Orangehorse]

Pro Balance from Progressive Earth was the mineral supplement recommended by my trimmer (she had a spreadsheet of all supplements and feeds!)

From Ebay or direct from Progressive Earth.