navicular disease/syndrome

[tess_019]

hi. my one horse i loan is in his 20’s (you’d never be able to tell tho) and over summer due to work i was unable to ride him as much as i wanted because of work. however, he was also lame a bit so that didn’t help either.

he has really sensitive hooves and can’t walk on the road without getting footy. one day i went up to the yard and his owner had taken. his shoes off! i asked if i was kanu go ride him, they said yes so off i went. however he was very footy so i didn’t feel comfortable riding him without shoes. i took him back turned him out etc etc, and then when i next went out he was the same. so i took him straight home and when i spoke to his owner she said that he should be fine, i however was skeptical so continued to question her. she then said that him being like that was probably because he has navicular disease or syndrome.

she messaged me the next day saying how he was happy running about in the field (which i know) and that because of this it was probably navicular. when i got the other horses in yesterday he galloped up the field incredibly fast.

i’m going to take my cat to the vet on friday and when i go i’m going to ask them their opinion but i just want a few more opinions. me and my mom are convinced he just needs his shoes back on but we obviously aren’t experienced with navicular so don’t know.

what’s your opinion?? and also, if it is navicular does that mean he can’t be ridden again??

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Barefoot rehab is a genuine option for treating navicular. However just pulling the shoes off and hoping that the horse will be fine isn't the same thing. A proper barefoot rehab involves changing the horse's diet to BF friendly feed (if required) and adding a BF friendly vit&min supplement (if required). Also the horse must be kept comfortable, so many use hoof boots to start with. Once the horse is sound on tarmac without boots, walking should be gradually increased at the horse's pace and normally starting off in-hand before progressing to longer distances and ridden work.

You should note that many vets have not recognised the success of BF rehabs yet (they still like remedial shoeing even though it has lower success rates) but if you want to know more about BF and haw it can help horses with lameness issues of the hoof read this blog. http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[tess_019]

see we don’t actually know if he’s got navicular, his owner has just kind of assumed. hence why i think that his hooves were just sensitive! thank you!!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

The thing is, a horse with healthy hooves should be able to hack out on tarmac without being footy. Smooth tarmac is a very easy surface for horses to walk on. So I have to ask, why was he so footy? It does sound like something is off with him, even if he is just shoe sick, needs a better diet for hoof health, thrush, something else?

 

[LadySam]

see we don’t actually know if he’s got navicular, his owner has just kind of assumed.

That's a big call for the owner to make just on assumption. The term 'navicular' can mean all sorts of things depending on how people use it. It can mean specific damage to the navicular bone, it can mean mystery foot pain that nobody can work out. Either way, a vet needs to make the diagnosis. If the owner is just assuming you could be way on the wrong track.

One thing that jumps out at me is how he is different on the road vs in the field. Did he have his feet trimmed when the shoes came off? I have seen these symptoms when the hoof wall has been trimmed back too much and the horse is walking on the sole of his foot. It will hurt on a hard surface like a road, but on a soft surface like grass or a sandy arena the horse will get by ok.

(The hoof wall around the edge of his foot and the frog in the middle of his foot should be bearing his weight/impact. If too much of his hoof wall has been trimmed back then he will be walking on his soles, which he shouldn't be doing. The sole is the flat part of his foot around the frog up to the hoof wall rim around the edge. It shouldn't come into contact with the ground.)

Like Faracat said, if he does have navicular, just pulling the shoes off won't fix it. Whether you do barefoot or corrective shoeing, it's a condition that needs careful management of feet, diet and workload to make the horse sound again.

 

[tess_019]

he’s always been like it without shoes, he’s just sensitive on hard ground. he’s perefectly healthy, it’s just this. he has the carrier out regularly, he’s got a good diet with good food etc.

 

[tess_019]

thank you!! i wasn’t there when he had his shoes off but they were most likely trimmed too! i’m going to talk to the vet as well so j find out what they think. thanks !

 

[LadySam]

he’s always been like it without shoes, he’s just sensitive on hard ground.

Hmm. If it's always just on hard ground, maybe your farrier does have a tendency to trim a little too hard.

 

[sbloom]

For some horses you need more than what is usually considered a good diet and good food, it might be useful for you to join a specialist FB group for barefoot and read around on there and on here (the one I recommend has whole horse in its name), barefoot CAN be easy, but there are many reasons for horses to be footy and you need to get knowledgeable to be able to help him.

Not sure I've heard anything quite as assumptive as saying he must have navicular! Classic navicular syndrome is a young horse disease, he most likely has some arthritic changes at his age, such as in the coffin joint but there may be a totally different reason for his discomfort. Getting the diet and trim right, and possibly using hoof boots where needed, should get him comfy.

 

[DabDab]

Could you ask the owner about getting some hoof boots for him? This will give an alternative to shoes to make him a little more comfortable if the owner is determined to give barefoot a go. You can get pads to go in the boots too - a bit like insoles for your shoes

Don't know that the small animal vet you see with your cat will be able to offer much advice though

 

[ester]

He sounds like a lot of 'normal' horses who have recently had their shoes removed.

It isn't ok to be riding a really uncomfortable horse though and won't help him because he won't be landing how he should I would have a chat with the owner about getting him some hoof boots.

 

[tess_019]

thank you! ill have a look into it

and i live in a small area, the domestic animal vets and the agriculture vets are the same people, we only have 3 vets at the surgery they just take it in turns to do the small animals and big animals

 

[Casey76]

(The hoof wall around the edge of his foot and the frog in the middle of his foot should be bearing his weight/impact. If too much of his hoof wall has been trimmed back then he will be walking on his soles, which he shouldn't be doing. The sole is the flat part of his foot around the frog up to the hoof wall rim around the edge. It shouldn't come into contact with the ground.)

Like Faracat said, if he does have navicular, just pulling the shoes off won't fix it. Whether you do barefoot or corrective shoeing, it's a condition that needs careful management of feet, diet and workload to make the horse sound again.

The weight baring structures of the foot are the frog, bars, inner and outer wall and the periphery of the sole.

If only the wall is in contact with the ground (which nay or may not include the frog), then the horse is just as peripherally loaded as if he had shoes on.

Each horse has its own individual level of concavity; some horses get amazing concavity, some remain fairly flat soled, but are completely sound on all surfaces as they have a very well developed sole.

 

[LadySam]

The weight baring structures of the foot are the frog, bars, inner and outer wall and the periphery of the sole.

If only the wall is in contact with the ground (which nay or may not include the frog), then the horse is just as peripherally loaded as if he had shoes on.

All true. I was keeping it simple for a novice.

 

[FfionWinnie]

He sounds like a lot of 'normal' horses who have recently had their shoes removed.

It isn't ok to be riding a really uncomfortable horse though and won't help him because he won't be landing how he should I would have a chat with the owner about getting him some hoof boots.

Agreed and a vet who hasn’t seen the horse isn’t going to be able to offer any useful advice (and should not, for professional reasons!).