Navicular-value of horse now?

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My 7 yo belgium warmblood showjumper last week was diagnosed with the early stages of navicular by an MRI scan. We were trying to sell him for £8500 and we had had interest in him but what is he worth now ???
 
It's bound to have a significant impact on his value. Miracles have been achieved with going barefoot or remedial shoeing but it will really depend on how advanced the navicular syndrome is and which part of the foot is worst affected (because it's a syndrome so involves many different problems that are conveniently rolled into one and claled "navicular syndrome"). Fingers crossed x
 
I assume if you went to the trouble of having an MRI he was probably lame. I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole but there are people who would. It depends on whether he is still lame and whether he would pass a five stage vetting. If he wouldn't pass a five stage vetting about £1000 max.
 
I'm sorry but I wouldn't even try selling a horse that has been diagnosed with navicular. Even if you were to sell him to someone who seemed genuine, you can bet at some point he'd end up in the hands of someone who doesn't know about his condition and he ends up doing something he isn't physically capable of.

As far as I can see you have three responsible choices. keep him, loan him out as a hack or PTS. either way you should be able to recoup some of your losses through your insurance - especially if you have LOU.
 
Is the horse unsound? Has he been unsound? Is there/has there been loss of performance? If so, is the horse managed effectively now in a way that would let him continue to show at whatever level he's capable of/schooled to? What was the motivation for the MRI? Was it related to the sale?

Navicular is not a disease, per se, it's a collection of symptoms - hence "syndrome". What, exactly, is wrong with him goes a long way towards informing his situation and prognosis. It's been pretty conclusively proven that what we used to refer to as "changes", meaning roughening/pitting on the surface of the navicular bone, is not a conclusive proof of current or future unsoundness. Even if there are arthritic changes, lots of horses have such issues and are a long way from being unsound. If the problem is soft tissue then it depends why and how it can be treated. Sometimes different shoeing or other intervention works wonders. If the problem is bone changes that impact on soft tissue, I'm afraid the prognosis is unilaterally poor but again, so much depends on the individual.

Now, all that said, now you know you're legally bound to disclose, particularly if there have been problems in the past. You need to speak to your vet for a full prognosis so you can give that information to the buyer.

If the horse is otherwise fantastic and the prognosis is good then you should be able to find a buyer for a reduced but not "meat money" price. If there are other issues or the feeling is the horse will not stay sound then, obviously, it's not looking good and selling the horse at all, in this climate, might be a real trick.
 
It would be very worth your while to have a look at this website:

http://www.rockleyfarm.co.uk/

And perhaps give Nic a ring. She's had lots of success in rehabing navicular cases - from lame horses to 100% sound and back in hard work, including jumping. With his shoes off, the right trim, diet and exercise programme you might still have a horse worth £8.5K
 
Its really hard to judge your situation with this horse without more information about his current state...ie soundness.

I have the number for a vet who specialises in navicular and was involved in the research of this syndrome at newmarket for 15 years. If you would like to PM me for more information I would be happy to help if I can.
 
Speak to Richard Vills on the Equine podiatory website. He's the countries leading expert on navic.

Id not write your horse off yet, id not be miserable and worried because there is hope.

My instructor has a navic horse who was written off at the age of 17 as a stallion. [ he was the first black horse LLoyds horse ] He had navic and so was sold cheaply, he is now about 27 and until last year was a P.S.G dressage horse winning at every outing.
 
^ In addition to what I said above, I had a horse "diagnosed" at 6, who I then sold relatively inexpensively, for reasons that had nothing to do with soundness, to someone who knew the situation and agreed with his care protocol. He evented successfully for her, then as a schoolmaster for her students, then was leased as a hack. He was still sound in his mid 20's last I heard. Now, diagnostics have changed over the years, obviously, but I wonder if he'd been vetted at 10, say, with no knowledge of his previous "diagnosis" if he wouldn't have been given a clean bill of health. (Not suggesting you should cover up the information you have now, merely suggesting a second opinion might be worth having.

I've had a few horses over the years show up something in a vetting which turned out to be a non-issue when investigated further. And then there are the horses that get vetted again, with totally different results . . .
 
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Speak to Richard Vialls on the Equine podiatory website. He's the countries leading expert on navic.

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Ummm. sorry, he isn't. He's a nice guy, and he's a barefoot specialist and an Equine Podiatrist who helped to write the National Occupational Standards, but he is not the country's leading expert on navicular.

You have aready been pointed at Rockley Farm, but what hasn't been said is that Rockley is in the middle of a research project in conjunction with Leahurst (Liverpool University Vet School) resolving foot lameness issues with barefoot rehabiliation. If your insurance will pay (or you can), they can put him through their program as part of that research. You can also take him barefoot yourself, of course.

There has been a phenomenal success rate so far in horses that have been through a barefoot rehabilitation program and you have every chance that your horse will jump again.

Assuming he does, then how sellable he is when he obviously should not be returned to shoes is very debatable.
 
I have a horse that was successfully rehabilitated from navicular by going barefoot under the management of a DAEP.

Did you have the MRI scan done because the horse was lame? Or did the prospective buyer arrange an MRI scan (given the cost I'm thinking this isn't likely)? The point is that MRI picks up everything, even a perfectly healthy horse will have irregularities that would show on MRI, and "the early stages of navicular" is so vague, it's barely a diagnosis. More like an early heads up to look into the value of equine podiatry. Your horse in all likelihood has a future if managed well, but now would be a bad time to sell.
 
I'm really sorry to hear about your horse. The reality is though that the majority of people would be completely put off even looking at your horse with the mention of the word navicular. regardless of your horses specific situation this word alone will cause most people to run a mile. This unfortunately would make your horse relatively worthless.
If you find someone who understands your situation someone may be open enough to give him a loving home.
personally i wouldn't touch a horse in this situation with a barge pole. However if I had a lot of spare cash he was sound and very good at his job I would consider buying him as i would have the money to llok after him if anything went wrong with it.

Fingers crossed you find a nice buyer. Good luck xx
 
Thanks for all of the response
The vets we took him to were Oakham for the MRI scan, the reason for the scan was because he failed a 5 stage vet with low grade lamness (the vet was very harsh and picky) about 4 months ago but to me he did not feel lame. Then about 6 weeks ago i rode him and he did feel very slightly lame so we got are vet out to have a look and he said he wasnt sure so we took him to have an X-ray. This led are vet to belive that my horse had arthritis but couldnt be sure so he then went to oakham to have an MRI scan where he was diagnosed with navicular syndrome. He is at the very early stages of it and for the last couple of weeks he has felt 100% sound to me and everyone else that has seen him. The vet has said this will be the case he will come into and out of lameness untill he eventually he will have to fully retire in approx 5 years. But tomo we are taking him back to oakham to have a drug called tildrim (i think ??!!) and have remidial shoeing which will magane the situation and give him longer.
He is also unlikely to be able to jump at his level (Newcomers) consistantly agian but will be able to do lower level competitions.
Currently i think that if you had a fair vet then he would past a 5 stage vetting but i couldn't sell him knowing that he has navicular.
I would love to keep him forever but sadly cannot afford to as i am at uni and has already cost my mum a fortune with all the vets fees and keeping him as well as me being at uni!!!
Thanks again for all your help.
 
At this early stage if you take his shoes off completely you can almost certainly cure him. Not improve. Cure. Check out rockleyfarm.co.uk and save yourself a fortune in remedial shoeing bills!

If you don't want to do this yourself I would be very intrested in buying him from you at the right price. PM me if you want to talk.
 
One of my clients dressage horses was diagnosed about a year ago in the same way. He had mild changes evident on both x-ray and MRI and relevant soft tissue damage and had an intermittant bi-lateral lameness.

He has had remedial shoeing with EDSS pads and magic cushion with a specialist farrier who pays very careful attention to his foot balance and is now 100% sound and back in full work. He's been sound for about 6 months now. He trots up sound on concrete when his shoes are removed for shoeing.

The vets did a follow up MRI and x-rays that show the damage appears to be reversing and his feet are now much better than they were. He has gone up a shoe size and the quality of his horn, sole and frogs are vastly improved.

He will eventually go back into normal shoes and is expected to have no further problems.
 
My mare was valued at over twelve thousand for insurance purposes however as she got older clearly there was a problem and she was diagnosed with Navicular. I wasn't ever going to sell her but had to face upto the facts she was no longer the ned she once was so at 13 her value plummeted.
She went through a number of years being lame on and off then found my current farrier who worked wonders and she ended her life without lameness at 21 with a completely unrelated problem.
I would add that she could not cope without shoes and was clearly unhappy and very sore. But different horses react in different ways.
Good luck.
 
Hi i wouldnt rule him out completely we have sold two horses one for a pleasure horse that the vet diagnosed as navicular and was a little pottery on corners we still got £2000 for her and the owner had her for two years and didn't have any problems thn she add an accident and sadly had to be pts. We also sold a four year old comming up to 2yr ago and the horse failed the flexion tests on the vetting put it down to concussion as she was wrongly shod we had her bare foot but the new owner wanted her shod as her previous horse had major foot problems and couldnt hold shoes. The blacksmith left too much heel, revetted her and improved greatly but still not 100% on flexion. Vet xrayed and come back with navicular but said there was a treatment for it cost £500 and it is very succesful and thought she was still worth her same value. The lady took a chance and brought her we knocked the price pof the treatment of the horse price and she said she would get it done in the winter. we still got £2000 for her and 18months later she has had no treatment never been lame and is currently jumping courses of 130m and competing at intermediate dressage. A super little horse at A Bargain price. So i wouldnt give up yet, most horses have changes on there navicular it depends on how much
 
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It would be very worth your while to have a look at this website:

http://www.rockleyfarm.co.uk/

And perhaps give Nic a ring. She's had lots of success in rehabing navicular cases - from lame horses to 100% sound and back in hard work, including jumping. With his shoes off, the right trim, diet and exercise programme you might still have a horse worth £8.5K

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Second this.
 
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