Navicular & Barefoot? Whats Best?

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Farma

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I have a mare with navicular who has remained sound for several years with the help of remedial shoeing with raised heel bars. My question is i have heard alot about barefoot shoeing for navicular horses and i just wondered is it something i should have done from the off or has anyone taken the shoes of and managed their horses feet to become sound without shoes?
Any experiences / advice welcome.
 
No personal experience of navicular, however my horse had all sorts of serious foot problems. I had to take his shoes off when I got him as his feet were just not in a state for shoeing.

A summer of living out on hard dry ground with no shoes and he has made a miraculous recovery. beyond everyones expectations, the hooves wore down naturally to the shape they needed to be in, with very little farriery required, and living out improved the circulation to his feet which meant they grew back in much better condition than before.

Based on this and friends experiences of navicular, I would definitely go down the barefoot route if I had a horse with navicular.

However, when you initially remove the shoes there is quite a long period of adjustment and many horses can become bruised and footsore until their feet toughen up. If she is sound and the shoes are working, you would have the risk that she would become unsound for quite a period before you see an improvement.

That said it was always my understanding that shoeing for navicular is not a cure, rather just a treatment.

Theres an enormous amount on google. good luck whatever you decide.
 
Although not a diagnosis of Navicular my horse had an MRI which showed soft tissue damage in the foot which in the long term can lead to changes and deterioration of the navicular bone.

He is currently at Rockley farm (one of the links orangehorse posted) being rehabbed barefoot. In fact there is some recent footage of Frankie on the blog and you can see how he has improved.

My decision was easy as he was lame so I had nothing to lose. If I was in your position where my horse seemed to be sound and coping I would be terrified to change anything in case it made things worse.

However the farriers I discussed it with were clear that remedial shoeing such as bars and wedges offered temporary relief but were not a cure and while they tended to help at first as they did take the strain off the affected area, this effect did not last.
We concentrated instead on trying to help him develop a better foot with shoes but it didn't help, so I sent him of to be rehabbed barefoot and so far he is sounder than he has been for a long time though still adjusting.
 
Curing the navicular is not really much of an issue. It just happens, in time, if you get the barefoot right. Going barefoot might be the bigger issue - you need to do your research on diet, environment and progressive conditioning first. If your horse can't be restricted in its access to grass it might be one of the many that don't grow strong enough feet while they are getting grass sugars.

Read Feet First, available on Amazon and you will get a very good idea of the issues that you will face. If you cannot provide optimum surfaces to work and live on, then you can still do it but it will take a lot longer.

Don't do it lightly, especially with a mare who is currently sound. Do your research first.
 
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