Navicular disease

[Hollylee1989]

Unfortunaly my horse cannot go barefoot, we tried before. His hood quality doesn't allow it


He's most certainly lame though, and the lameness dissapears when the navicular is blocked and he shows significant changes on x rays, so the causality checks out I'm afraid.

I'm very reluctant to try barefoot on this particular horse because of several reasons unfortunately. So if not remedial shoing will work he will be put down.

My 21 year old has navicular disease, he had been in shoes for 17 years of owning him. He's only in light work so we pulled all 4 shoes off back in May, he improved so much by july and looks free again on the fronts. I too was very nervous thinking he wouldn't go barefoot, to help with the transition you can use hoof boots. This time of the year is probably the best to try it with the soft ground, good luck in what ever decision you decide.

 

[Zuzzie]

I have, in the past, at different times, had two horses diagnosed with Navicular. One of these horses was put in remedial shoes and, frankly, they did nothing but make the horse look like he was walking on stilts! Nothing worked. I retired them both from competition, gave them time off, then hacked out lightly and eventually both of them came sound. Looking back, I'm convinced they had soft tissue damage which just took time to come right. Why is it, when you have 2 horses x-rayed, which show changes to the navicular bone, only 1 horse is lame. I think vets are too fond of giving out this diagnosis as a catch-all answer. I would also recommend barefoot rehab. You can always buy hoof boots to protect his feet. Don't be too hasty in writing him off. Good luck.

 

[HashRouge]

I've got a 19 year old out in the field who was diagnosed with navicular at 6 years old. He was ultimately made lamer by remedial shoeing, despite initially appearing to come sound, culminating in a bout of mechanical lameness so bad that his feet pancaked (there are some extraordinary photos of his feet on the Rockley blog, if anyone is interested). We took his shoes off and sent him to a specialist barefoot rehab facility in the UK, and to be honest it probably saved his life. He was ultimately retired fairly young, but not due to navicular, and he's got smashing feet now and is as sound as you could ask for.

Honestly, barefoot sounds scary to start with because we're all so conditioned to the idea that riding horses must be shod. But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense that nailing rigid metal to the horse's hoof will drastically alter the hoof's ability to function as it should (i.e. as a nice, spongy shock absorber). Your horse sounds like he was shod at a very young age, which will have been even more detrimental to his hoof health. As other's have said, get him on a barefoot friendly diet (minimal sugar, hi fibre, a good balancer) and be prepared for lots of gentle in hand walking. He may need boots at first, but he might not.

Also, you seem so convinced that he couldn't cope without shoes - but he wasn't born with shoes, and I'm sure he wouldn't have been shod until he was backed. So he obviously managed at least 2 years unshod...why is it so inconceivable that he could manage without them again?

 

[Birker2020]

When my 22yr old had an injury from hooning in the field (check ligament) the vet suggested taking the shoes off for at least one shoeing cycle.

I spoke to the farrier who said he'd nip in to remove them when passing by. A couple of days later I arrived at the yard and pulled Bailey out of the stable. I was perplexed why her shoes weren't clattering against the floor as she walked and then realised the farrier had visited and removed her shoes. From day 1 she acted as if she had always been barefoot yet she'd been shod all her life - I'd had her for nearly 17yrs and I never noticed any difference. This on a horse with a very strong but relatively thin sole.

She had her shoes back on again two cycles later as we had acheived what we'd set out to do but I wouldn't hesitate to do the same again if I thought it might help.

 

[Reacher]

A belated reply - sorry, but have only just read this thread.
Not having any photos / X-rays etc of your horses’s feet makes it a bit difficult to advise - does it have long toes / under run heels which are the typical cause of navicular?

In answer to your query I would ask your vet to explain (thoroughly) why they think the horse can not go barefoot and/or why they think barefoot would not help.

Can hoof boots and pads not be used for comfort and to help stimulate the structures of the feet?

As you mention wanting follow the advice of the qualified experts, (which I agree with!) I’d suggest reading up Professor Robert Bowker from University of Michigan who is an expert on horses feet and navicular and discussing his findings with your vet - especially if your horse has the stereotypical long toes / under run heels. An article here:
https://thehorse.com/181721/bowker-navicular-issues-begin-earlier-than-we-think/
(There are a load of papers/articles/ interviews by him and his colleagues available if you scroll down this thread there are some links https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/barefoot-info-websites.760014/ ).
He recommends frequent trimming to bring back the toe (eg every couple of weeks) which isn’t practical with shoes on.

If I was absolutely convinced by your vet that barefoot wasn’t the answer then I’d want cutting edge shoeing technology eg 3D hoof care half mesh high performance pads - but you still have the issue of the toes needing very frequent trimming (according to Prof B’s research). I’d give this a certain amount of time then reassess.
Good luck.

 

[sbloom]

A belated reply - sorry, but have only just read this thread.
Not having any photos / X-rays etc of your horses’s feet makes it a bit difficult to advise - does it have long toes / under run heels which are the typical cause of navicular?

The broken forwards HPA indicates that the hoof is more likely to be boxy and upright than long toe/low heel.

 

[Reacher]

The broken forwards HPA indicates that the hoof is more likely to be boxy and upright than long toe/low heel.

Ok I missed this in the OP

 

[sbloom]

Ok I missed this in the OP

Was in a comment

 

[Dexter]

You cannot seriously be advocating putting a 4yr old to sleep because you dont want to rehab its feet?

What is wrong with people?

 

[sbloom]

You cannot seriously be advocating putting a 4yr old to sleep because you dont want to rehab its feet?

What is wrong with people?

Well that's gonna change their mind for sure....

 

[Goldenstar]

I will stick my head up and say a four year old ex trotter with navicular would not be staying here for long .
It’s is extremely sad and very bad luck for you and more so for the horse .

 

[Dexter]

Well that's gonna change their mind for sure....

They have repeatedly stated they aren't going to change their mind, so I'm not sure why you think I would be trying to.

 

[paddi22]

I will stick my head up and say a four year old ex trotter with navicular would not be staying here for long .
It’s is extremely sad and very bad luck for you and more so for the horse .

A lot of horses just need time to grow and recover. We’ve had tons of lame trotters that were written off come in. 6 months barefoot In the field fixed 95% of them.

if a trotter has survived 4 years of trotter training they usually turn out to be hardy sound horses. We’ve had horses surrendered by owners that did every scan and mri. And they just needed a time off and have come sound.
The photos below are of two horses that were written off by vets. Both came off sound, and have stayed sound, after being given time barefoot in the field.

every horse is an individual. Vets have even said to us that they see less damage in trotter (who go straight on hard surfaces) than they see in dressage horse who do tight turns in arena surfaces.

Every horse deserves a chance. And natures curses a remarkable amount of ills if given time. Mainly due to monetary concerns, a huge amount if surrendered horses with hopeless issues get turned out for a year and left alone. The majority come right

 

[Goldenstar]

A lot of horses just need time to grow and recover. We’ve had tons of lame trotters that were written off come in. 6 months barefoot In the field fixed 95% of them.

if a trotter has survived 4 years of trotter training they usually turn out to be hardy sound horses. We’ve had horses surrendered by owners that did every scan and mri. And they just needed a time off and have come sound.
The photos below are of two horses that were written off by vets. Both came off sound, and have stayed sound, after being given time barefoot in the field.

every horse is an individual. Vets have even said to us that they see less damage in trotter (who go straight on hard surfaces) than they see in dressage horse who do tight turns in arena surfaces.

Every horse deserves a chance. And natures curses a remarkable amount of ills if given time. Mainly due to monetary concerns, a huge amount if surrendered horses with hopeless issues get turned out for a year and left alone. The majority come right

This poor horse is four years old it has not survived four years of trotting that would be a very very different prospect

 

[ycbm]

The vet doesn't know what's wrong with it, though, and "navicular" is no longer a diagnosis. It's not unlikely to be a simple and fixable ddft or collateral ligament strain. Or just joint inflammation from the broken forward hoof pastern axis, which can also be fixed. If I still had land I'd take it off her hands for a quid, the more so because she's being told it has feet that won't stand going barefoot. Those are the ones that more often than not seem to come right once the foot is back in decent condition.
.

 

[paddy555]

The vet doesn't know what's wrong with it, though, and "navicular" is no longer a diagnosis. It's not unlikely to be a simple and fixable ddft or collateral ligament strain. Or just joint inflammation from the broken forward hoof pastern axis, which can also be fixed. If I still had land I'd take it off her hands for a quid, the more so because she's being told it has feet that won't stand going barefoot. Those are the ones that more often than not seem to come right once the foot is back in decent condition.
.

I think it's a dolehorse and I really like the look of them.
I have land. Thank heavens the horse is not in the UK.