Navicular Syndrome - advice desperately needed

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tigger01

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My beautiful cob was yesterday diagnosed with Navicular. I am devastated. I have been reading up abou the disease but it's mind-boggling. I have been offered two lines of treatment - firstly Tildren and corrective shoeing; the other line seems to be barefoot. He is currently shoeless and is moving so much better than when he was wearing shoes. I am very tempted to try that route first. I seem to have so many questions- what are people's experiences with Navicular - will my horse ever come right? Will I be able to ride him again? He would hate to be a glorified lawn ornament.

Advice and experiences please - good or bad.
 
Our DWB mare was diagnosed with 'possible' Navicular Syndrome 3 years ago at the age of 7.

We went down the corrective shoeing, medication and boxrest route for 4 months but it didn't really improve, eventually we made the decision to try barefoot after consultation with the vet and farrier. After initial 'footiness' she is fine (crosses fingers to avoid jinxing her). Mind you she is very accident prone. She competes at showjumping and dressage and has done some cross country.

Barefoot will not necessarily solve the problem as every horse is different, our vet and farrier were very cautious as to whether it would work, but we decided to give it a try.

It seems to me that Navicular Syndrome covers a vast number of possible causes - we had xrays done on both front feet which were 'inconclusive' for a positive diagnosis of Navicular.

When initially diagnosed I launched myself into the internet and researched everything I possibly could. I spoke to other horseowners, vets and farriers.

It may be that we were the lucky ones.
 
Navicular syndrome is a very difficult one to give any concrete advice on. The heel pain can be caused from a variety of things from simple foot imbalance (relatively easy to correct and good prognosis) to severe soft tissue damage (not so great and unlikely to come sound).
First question is are you insured and if so does your insurance cover MRI? If yes this is the route I would advise you start with, at least you then know the extent of damage, if any.
If you are insured then remember the 1 year clock starts now, so I would personally be looking to treat (depending on results of potential MRI) – tildren and shockwave would be my preferred treatment.
With regards to corrective shoeing v barefoot, if you are already noticing improvement with shoe removal then I would continue barefoot.

If you are not insured then obviously all the above is very expensive and I think I would start conservatively with barefoot and possibly shockwave therapy.

Hope that helps
 
tigger01 said:
My beautiful cob was yesterday diagnosed with Navicular. I am devastated. I have been reading up abou the disease but it's mind-boggling. I have been offered two lines of treatment - firstly Tildren and corrective shoeing; the other line seems to be barefoot. He is currently shoeless and is moving so much better than when he was wearing shoes. I am very tempted to try that route first. I seem to have so many questions- what are people's experiences with Navicular - will my horse ever come right? Will I be able to ride him again? He would hate to be a glorified lawn ornament.

Advice and experiences please - good or bad.
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My advice would be to try the barefoot first.

My reason is that a horse that I rehabbed barefoot with a diagnosis of navicular disease from radiographs, with very thin soles and feet you could bend with your fingers has just won the Championships at a large annual show, and he has been sound since ten weeks after I took him on, nearly a year now. He jumps, hacks and is perfectly normal, footwise, other than that he wears no shoes.

He had already been treated with adequan, tildren, hyaluronic acid and bar shoes and he was still so lame and so unhappy that his owner had taken the decision to have him put down.

Barefoot is unlikely to make your horse worse. All those treatments will still be available to you if it fails. But you have already seen an improvement, so why stop now?

Check out rockleyfarm.blogspot.com and rockleyfarm.co.uk Their results are fantastic even on horses with severe soft tissue damage.


ps the insurance point is a good one, and you need to check your policy about how long they will pay out for if you do not start a medical treatment straight away.

pps make sure that you work with him with someone who understands how vital it is for a navicular syndrome horse to have a weight bearing frog.
 
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tigger01 said:
My beautiful cob was yesterday diagnosed with Navicular. I am devastated.
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I'm so sorry, I understand how devastated you feel. Navicular as you'll be aware is quite a broad term, but there is life after diagnosis.
My girl is doing well, despite having the added complication of possible collateral ligament strain a few months ago. She is currently remaining sound and building up fitness again.
Just when I'm resigned to having a pretty field ornament she comes bouncing back again.
Many horses continue to work for years, so do think positive, take a deep breath and tell your beautiful boy, he's not retiring yet.
 
Don't know the details but someone at my yard had her young 5 yr old go down with navic, she went barefoot and he is now sound and back in normal work with no problems, took a year and his feet have changed in shape, much for the better. She has a barefoot trimmer as opposed to farrier and I now use the same person for mine.
 
I would certainly try the barefoot route and ensure the feet are trimmed well and kept balanced. There is some thoughts that poor farriery may be the cause of a lot of 'navicular disease' as it is termed but, as mentioned navicular is a very broad term used for problems in that area of the foot and there are various degrees of severity.

I went to a veterinary conference a couple of years back and one of the sessions was about navicular - how it occurs, what it is and how they are progressing in treament and cures etc. I think alot of it was the Animal Health Trust who provided the input so it may be worth having a look at their site or contacting them for advice if your vet/farrier is not a specialist in the area.

I certainly don't think navicular necessarily means the end of a horse's ridden career these days anyway.
 
There are two with navicular on our yard, both went the medicated and bar shoes route. Both horses are now completley sound and in full work 2 years after diagnosis! One is 27 and has a slightly athritic hock after fracturing it so is just a hack and he has chronic navicular (could be seen on an X-ray), the other had navicular that could only be diagnosed with an MRI. Other one was only 5 or 6 when diagnosed and hes had the tildren once I think and not again, he jumps and does everything. Both are back in normal shoes now and staying sound! So there is hope out there :)
 
Don't panic. There are navicular horses (shod as well as unshod) leading happy (and sometimes competitive) ridden lives. Personal experience of riding one was that it was very hard to insist on caution on hard ground etc because horse thought like an eventer.
 
I know how you feel but honestly there is hope...we took almost a year to diagnose mine finally with the right vet and an exceptional farrier we are now sound and just competed in our first dressage tests...and were placed in the top three in both (more info than needed, I know...but we're extremely proud and taking any opportunity to drop it casually into conversation!!)

We've had tildren, navilox, bute and wedges...he's in no mind to retire just yet - whoop whoop

What works for one may not work for another but there most definitely is life after navicular

Hope this and all the other positive stories on here gives you a big dose of hope and optimisim x
 
Thank you everyone for your helpful comments - I now feel a lot happier that I will (fingers crossed) be able to ride my boy again. Thanks once again - I really appreciate everyone's input.
 
My big cob was diagnosed with Navicular last year at the age of 21. He's had corrective shoeing and hyluronic acid injections and has been on one bute a day since December when he had his injections.

He had January and February off on field rest, then started walk work - he's now doing about 30-40 mins walk in school, or between 1 and 1½ hours hacking (he's a bit trippy on rough ground - if the ground is really rough and downhill, I get off and lead him - but on level ground or roads he's fine).

I got the all clear from the vet a couple of weeks ago to start trot work and stop the bute. He was quite unbalanced when it came to trot, but he's improving daily. It's lovely to be starting to do a bit more with him and we will aim to do some walk & trot dressage tests over the summer. His jumping days are over, but as long as he can have some fun out hacking and go to the odd show/competition - I am happy, and more to the point, so is he!

Good luck with your boy - it's not the end of the world, as long as you manage it right, get GOOD advice and treatment. A horse at our yard has been diagnosed for 6 years and is still going strong at 22.
 
Charlie was diagnosed with collapsed heels and changes to the navicular. I too was given the route of remedial shoeing or the barefoot route. Charlie is a tb with terrible hooves, couldnt keep shoes on. I took the desicion to remove all shoes and research the barefoot route. He adapted very quickly to being barefoot. The only problem we had during the transition period was an abcess. He then moved on to hoof boots for hacking out. I also changed his diet so that it was almost sugar free. Now 2 years on, he hacks out barefoot, lost the hoof boots after about a year, showjumps, dressage and showing classes. He also now has excellent hoof quality. I feel that I am one of the lucky ones. If you dont try barefoot, then you will never know. If it doesnt work you can always try remedial shoes.
 
Navicular syndrome is not the same as navicular, so it is no way the end of the road. A cob up my yard has got it and is on tildren- so far, so good and is very sound. You should go with what ever your vet recommends. I have a horse who has the full on navicular, we had no choice but to either have him put down or de-nerved. We thought even though it was expensive we would try the de-nerving. We had fantastic vets do the op and then he had to have a huge amount of after-care. It is a very controversial issue but i must say i am so pleased we went with our vets suggestion and went ahead with it, my horse has never been SO happy and SO SO sound, he is moving unbelievably, with close monitoring and careful shoeing, this is working for my horse!
 
In your situation I wouldn't hesitate to ring Rockley Farm tomorrow. I see they have already been mentioned. Just look at what they are doing there, it might well be worth considering.
 
I agree with barefoot. My boy had awful heel pain and arthitis, he has had his shoes off for 4 years and he is as sound as a whistle. I also have boots and pads for him to help encourage a heel-first landing without pain for him that I put on when the ground is very hard/he is a bit stiff.
 
dressage.diva said:
Navicular syndrome is not the same as navicular, so it is no way the end of the road. A cob up my yard has got it and is on tildren- so far, so good and is very sound. You should go with what ever your vet recommends. I have a horse who has the full on navicular, we had no choice but to either have him put down or de-nerved. We thought even though it was expensive we would try the de-nerving. We had fantastic vets do the op and then he had to have a huge amount of after-care. It is a very controversial issue but i must say i am so pleased we went with our vets suggestion and went ahead with it, my horse has never been SO happy and SO SO sound, he is moving unbelievably, with close monitoring and careful shoeing, this is working for my horse!
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Do you feel able to tell us how long ago you were given the stark choice of denerve him or have him put down? I ask because I am desperately hoping that it was quite some time ago, and before vets had they information which is around now, that full on navicular horses can do well with a barefoot rehab. I have one who was 24 hours from being put to sleep, so I know from experience.


I know it must be deeply upsetting to have anyone suggest that your horse may not have needed de-nerving (at least he wasn't put down!), for which I am sorry, but I do want people reading this thread who may be in the same position as you were to know that there may be other options.

Can I also suggest that you ignore this request from me completely if you would answer saying that he could not go shoeless because of the quality of his feet? Otherwise you will possibly be deluged with posts (maybe including me :() saying that foot quality is no barrier to a barefoot rehab.
 
cptrayes said:
Do you feel able to tell us how long ago you were given the stark choice of denerve him or have him put down? I ask because I am desperately hoping that it was quite some time ago, and before vets had they information which is around now, that full on navicular horses can do well with a barefoot rehab. I have one who was 24 hours from being put to sleep, so I know from experience.


I know it must be deeply upsetting to have anyone suggest that your horse may not have needed de-nerving (at least he wasn't put down!), for which I am sorry, but I do want people reading this thread who may be in the same position as you were to know that there may be other options.

Can I also suggest that you ignore this request from me completely if you would answer saying that he could not go shoeless because of the quality of his feet? Otherwise you will possibly be deluged with posts (maybe including me :() saying that foot quality is no barrier to a barefoot rehab.
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We had had remideal shoeing for 6 months... Still lame. We then had him bare foot for 6 months... still lame :(
I wish that there had been another option for us. And those with other options are lucky! It was the absolute last draw, and i would never recommend it however i am just saying... even in the WORST case, there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
 
Hi

My boy was diagnoised with Navicular in October and as you are I was totally devasted.

I researched and read all I could about the condition and it all seemed to be doom and gloom.

Harry only showed lameness when turning to the left and he seemed to be lame at his shoulder rather than the pain being in his feet.

He went to the vets for X rays and these showed lollipop effect on both of his front feet navicular bones (one foot worse than the other) He had HY-50 injections in both front feet which I beleive is a false joint fluid and he has wedged pads on his front feet with quarter clipped shoes and rolled toes.

He has been sound as a pound since the shoes went on. I have chosen to retire him from competing he was my XC horse however he is more than capable of still going round the local cross country course and jumping the 3' fences.

I'm very careful with the ground and don't do alot of trotting on the roads.

There is definately hope for you so please don't be disheartened there are so many different treatments available.

I haven't tried the bare foot route but if he went lame again I would certainly consider this. Not sure how he would get on though as has very flat TB feet.

Good luck and I have everything crossed for you i hope my story gives you hope xx :)
 
In short we have been through the same thing... vet said bute and corrective shoeing and taking shoes off would make him worse....instinctively I went against vets advise..now barefoot and wears boots for hacking, the result was almost immediate, now he floats along, and I am not exaggerating, if I were you Id go the barefoot route, I can give you a number of a farrier that specialises in foot problems and fitting hoofboots, gloucestershire area. Good luck
 
My horse has just been diagnosed with navicular syndrome.
The vet gave her cortisteroid injections into each front leg today.
Recommended putting on reverse aluminium shoes with rolled toes.
I can't go barefoot, as people have been recommending here, as she is already barefoot & has been for 2 years!
Hope this works for her :(
 
pachypach said:
My horse has just been diagnosed with navicular syndrome.
The vet gave her cortisteroid injections into each front leg today.
Recommended putting on reverse aluminium shoes with rolled toes.
I can't go barefoot, as people have been recommending here, as she is already barefoot & has been for 2 years!
Hope this works for her :(
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Patchypach, I'd be really interested to hear how this turns out. Obviously it will be quite a lengthy process whatever. What tests were done by your vet to identify navicular syndrome?

Tigger01, I'd definately go down the barefoot route, I'm convinced that shoeing is the primary cause of navicular and navicular type problems, your cob wouldn't be about 11 yrs old by any chance?
 
ROCKLEY FARM.

Google it. They have an incredibly high success rate with Navicular. My friends horse was sent there, it was the last straw, a few weeks away from that awful decision we all dread. One year later hes sound and in full work. You might even get your insurance to pay for it if you have good cover?!

Its onyl £100 a week full livery, which sounds a lot but really, for everything included, its worth saving your horses life!!!
 
pale rider, she had full xrays all legs, she has also the start of arthritis in the 2nd phalanx (if that makes sense, sorry, I'm in France, so translating it from French!)
she is only 13, so hopefully will come sound again.
:(
 
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