Navicular/ barefoot advice please

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air78

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My friends horse has just been diagnosed with possible navicular. He is booked in for xrays etc.

Can someone please explain why going barfoot can help/ cure navicular, and just generaly explain a bit more about it?

Thankyou.
 
Being barefoot allows the hoof to expand and contract naturally with no added factors for breakover and weight etc. This means it is much more shock absorbing than having shoes on though not sure ifthat is all the reason
 
Simple answer - barefoot is the most sucessful 'treatment' for navicular cases in terms of return to work! It allows the horse to find the balance and shape of hoof that suits them, while also developing the shock absorbing capabilities of the caudal hoof area which is usually the area which is very weak and un-used in navicular cases.

In order to understand the thinking behind it then a little reading of the above links will be the best - no one understands it and explains it like Nic! Much the most straightward information you will find!
 
Horse walks heel first naturally.

Poor shoeing/foot balance/poor trimming = back of hoof soreness and atrophy = toe first landing.

Toe first landing = strain on tendons/poor shock asbsorption & jarring/strain to navicular bone and so bone remodeling and/or lesions to the soft tissues.

Barefoot (with dietry input, infection treatment and appropriate trimming) = foot goes back to heel first landing and correct balance to feet (and therefore whole body) = horse heals and becomes sound (most of the time).

Condensed enough?
 
Of course it is always possible that a well shod hoof would land heel first... I sincerley belive that horse shoes were developed for a reason and it isn't just a con to gain farriers money. Oh, my horse is currently barefoot and probably will remain so.
 
hackedoff said:
Of course it is always possible that a well shod hoof would land heel first... I sincerley belive that horse shoes were developed for a reason and it isn't just a con to gain farriers money. Oh, my horse is currently barefoot and probably will remain so.
Click to expand...

My friend's teenage horse has been shod since four and I was admiring his heel first landing in his shoes yesterday. It's fully possible, I agree.
I pulled my Arab's shoes at the age of 17 (for financial reasons) and for the last 8 years, he's been fed 'the best' and trimmed by 'the best' but he's still stubbornly landing toe first
smile.gif
but as it's never caused him a problem, I'm not worried;)

The reason I mention shoes is that I am not aware of a single barefoot horse (who has been trimmed appropriately) who has developed navicular.

So if any horse develops it and the vet suggests heart bars - consider that the function of the heart bars is to engage the heels. Taking the horse barefoot can create this much cheaper and with greater accuracy and success.

However, just whipping the shoes off and hoping for the best won't cut it. You need specialist knowledge and support and to be committed to making changes to the horse's diet and management if needed. It doesn't have to be complicated, but a nudge in the right direction and support if things go wrong can make all the difference to success or failure for horses with a pathology like this.

There is historical reasons for why horse shoes were invented. I believe it was to keep war horses going out to battle? I don't believe it was for farrier's to con anyone out of their money;) Farriers don't become farriers for the cash:) Shoes are a great tool to keep difficult horses sound and rideable if other options are not acceptable to horse or owner.
 
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Oberon said:
Shoes are a great tool to keep difficult horses sound and rideable if other options are not acceptable to horse or owner.
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Hi Oberon - I agree with most of your sentiments, but have trouble with this one. If a lame horse is shod IMO it may mask the lameness, but I don't think you can really call the horse 'sound' where this is meant to mean 'fit and healthy'.
 
LucyPriory said:
Hi Oberon - I agree with most of your sentiments, but have trouble with this one. If a lame horse is shod IMO it may mask the lameness, but I don't think you can really call the horse 'sound' where this is meant to mean 'fit and healthy'.
Click to expand...

I don't think the OP wants this to become yet another thread on the rights and wrongs of shoeing vs. barefoot!

OP, I would also recommend the Rockley blog - if you look at the links on the top, there's one called "key blog posts" which has some of the most informative posts on navicular and barefoot. As Oberon says, the key is strengthening the back half of the foot through correct stimulation and movement, and most importantly the right diet. My horse has just finished 3 months of rehab at Rockley and the difference is amazing, although he was only lame for a couple of weeks before he went there I do wonder how long he has had niggling pain in his feet.
 
j1ffy said:
I don't think the OP wants this to become yet another thread on the rights and wrongs of shoeing vs. barefoot!
Click to expand...

The OP enquired about barefoot. Oberon made a comment about shoeing which I disagree with. It's a forum, discussion and disagreement are part of the package.

To understand some of the barefoot thinking about navicular try this:

http://www.hoofrehab.com/NavicularSyndrome.htm
 
LucyPriory said:
Hi Oberon - I agree with most of your sentiments, but have trouble with this one. If a lame horse is shod IMO it may mask the lameness, but I don't think you can really call the horse 'sound' where this is meant to mean 'fit and healthy'.
Click to expand...

While I do agree with you, I think it is important that we don't alienate people who chose to shoe their horses for whatever reason. I wasn't thinking as much about navicular, more grass sensitive horses who's owners can't make the necessary changes to keep the horse comfortable barefoot....
 
Oberon said:
Horse walks heel first naturally.

Poor shoeing/foot balance/poor trimming = back of hoof soreness and atrophy = toe first landing.

Toe first landing = strain on tendons/poor shock asbsorption & jarring/strain to navicular bone and so bone remodeling and/or lesions to the soft tissues.

Barefoot (with dietry input, infection treatment and appropriate trimming) = foot goes back to heel first landing and correct balance to feet (and therefore whole body) = horse heals and becomes sound (most of the time).

Condensed enough?
Click to expand...

Could you please explain to me in idiot terms :D how by shoeing makes them land toe first, and then by going barefoot though trimming etc makes them land heel first. :eek:

Thanks
 
Oberon said:
While I do agree with you, I think it is important that we don't alienate people who chose to shoe their horses for whatever reason. I wasn't thinking as much about navicular, more grass sensitive horses who's owners can't make the necessary changes to keep the horse comfortable barefoot....
Click to expand...

Hi Oberon. I used to be much more like you in my thinking about shoeing. But I now deal daily with the unhappy consequences of grass sensitive horses being shod. Some of these are so distressing they never make it to the blog.

Some of these horses end up getting prematurely shot, or like my own horse (before I got her) sent for meat. One person shot two on the same day. I had another one of these calls just Wednesday. Long term LGL ignored, horse shot well before their time. I am now not so calm or measured.

And so many shod grass sensitive horses still struggle, but get blamed for 'behavioural issues' (which is how Grace ended up heading for meat).

OMG I could go on and on - but I tell you what join me one day on a round and you might just think a little differently.

But back to the OP's question.

I posted a link to a protocol for barefoot rehab of navicular. It does work and is perfectly possible to do, although a traditional livery set up might pose extra challenges, these can often be managed should the carer choose to do so.

It can be more difficult to rehab a navicular barefoot at livery or at home, but with someone experienced to guide you it is not impossible and you learn a lot on the way.

The link also explains a bit more about navicular and its diagnosis/causes along with the research references.
 
In my horses case being an ex racer he was shod at 2 before his foot had a chance to develop, the structures at the back of his foot were so poor he didn't want to engage them. He landed toe first so used them even less and they got weaker.
When his shoes came off by getting everything in the environment right and by working him gently on surfaces that were supportive and stimulating we were able to encourage him to start engaging the back of the foot which then strengthened and developed. Being barefoot his foot was in contact with the ground in a way it wouldn't be in shoes. The more he used it the stronger it got and he got sounder.

He's frankie on the Rockley blog and there are some good picture showing how weak his feet were without shoes and how the improved without

There are probably lots of triggers that cause pain which starts the landing wrong but once they do they start on a downward spiral that seems difficult to reverse with shoes. The statistic for full recovery with traditional methods for various kinds of caudal foot pain are really very poor, around 20% depending on the structures involved.
 
I've a navi mare who after diagnosis had natural balance and pads, she's a tb flat saucer feet with no heel and no frog. If she lost a shoe she lost a leg. Initially her stride and foot fall changed from toe to heel first but her knee action remained choppy so we decided to take her shoe off to see if it made a difference, 18 months on and she's striding and somewhat lengthened in stride. I am at commercial DIY livery and have done nothing to diet or work we do, i started using the school to condition her feet doing lateral work inhand and lengthening the rides we did and had the advice of a caring educated farrier. She still avoids small stones but on a pebble beach she has no issues.

Bon bon
 
LucyPriory said:
Hi Oberon. I used to be much more like you in my thinking about shoeing. But I now deal daily with the unhappy consequences of grass sensitive horses being shod. Some of these are so distressing they never make it to the blog.

Some of these horses end up getting prematurely shot, or like my own horse (before I got her) sent for meat. One person shot two on the same day. I had another one of these calls just Wednesday. Long term LGL ignored, horse shot well before their time. I am now not so calm or measured.

And so many shod grass sensitive horses still struggle, but get blamed for 'behavioural issues' (which is how Grace ended up heading for meat).

OMG I could go on and on - but I tell you what join me one day on a round and you might just think a little differently.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I agree with you both :)

Lucy, I agree there are far too many horses being blamed for poor behaviour who actually have sore feet caused by dietary issues (there are lots of itchy horses who don't need to be itchy horses too!).

Oberon, I agree that there are a lot of horses for whom shoeing does remove LGL. I believe that works by reducing the blood supply to the foot. The LGL is caused by toxins delivered in the blood. It stands to reason to me that if you lessen the blood supply there will be fewer toxins reaching the laminae and a proportion of LGL horses will be genuinely sound in shoes, not just anaesthetised by them.
 
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