Navicular-worth doing an MRI? or go barefoot?

Madam_max said:
Sorry to butt in on this topic but I have a question about Navicular also. So my horse has been to the vets this week due to some eratic behaviour. Now he was sent there for a bone scan as the vet thought it was his back as he has muscle wastage on his right side. However, the bone scan showed nothing going on in his back. However his feet were showing warm (not hot) on the scan so the decided to x-ray his back feet? The horse isn't lame though. However upon x-raying they found some changes on his navicular bone so went ahead and MRI'd and yes he has some damage there. Now my question is as he isn't lame is this just an incidental finding?
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IMO the "lameness" might show first as a behavioral problem, back problem, contact issue/acceptance etc I think feeling these changes in the horse is up to the rider who can pinpoint the start of the problem much sooner than a vet who doesn't know the horse.
 
Delta99 said:
My 6 yr old warmblood was diagnosed with navicular about 6 weeks ago. He was 1/10 lame in one leg and 2/10 in the other.
X rays show changes in the navicular bone.

He had steroid injections into the bursa and seemed to be improving initially but then went lame again.

I'm debating whether to take him for an MRI but my insurance will only cover half of the cost so I'm looking at spending about 1500 myself.

I understand that the MRI will give me a much better idea of where and how bad the problem actually is...

BUT : does this extra information give me more options in terms of treatment???

If there is DDFT problems, or impar ligament, is there actually anything that can be done, other than rest?


I'm also considering spending the 1500 pounds the MRI would cost me on sending the horse away for rehabilitation instead as I have heard a lot of success stories about going barefoot and Rockley farm seems to be getting a lot of recommendations on here.

Been going backwards and forewards with this (and can't get hold of the vets!!) so I'm just looking for opinions to help me make up my mind, please....

thanks a lot.
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Barefoot rehab worked for mine (diagnosed with navicular changes via Xrays and lameness work up). He was lame for 2 years and tried many treatments costing fortune including aluminum egg bar shoes, wedges etc
He was rehabbed barefoot at Rockley as I didn't have the knowledge or experience or facilities to do it correctly and he was sound after about 6 months despite having a lot of other problems which he is still battling with.
 
You should go barefoot whatever else you try! Some reading: Pete Ramey (loads of stuff on his website that is free to access, he is great), Jaime Jackson - 'Paddock Paradise' and other books, and of course 'Feet First'.
 
Well, I have decided not to go for the mri at this point. Really like the idea of going barefoot and am still researching everything involved with it. Will be doing it at home as i have my own yard so no worries about other people trying to interfere.

In the meantime I have changed farriers and wow, what a difference! The boy with navicular is much better than he was before being shod by the new farrier and my TB... A totally different horse!!

Which has made me wonder if it is not in fact the bad shoeing that is making horses stay lame, rather than the shoes themselves??

Unfortunately I'm now caught between a rock and a hard place as the TB really needs shoes on (I had him barefoot for about 4 months at one stage and he was sore the whole time so unless I want to give him a year off, barefoot is not an option for him). But the new farrier is quite a way away so probably wouldn't come out for just one horse if I have the other one barefoot.

So, the plan is to give it one or two more sets and see if he keeps improving. If he doesn't we'll take the shoes off.
I'm still a bit concerned as he didn't have hinds on when I bought him and he moved his hinds quicker than his fronts in the school (sand and flexiride) Once we put hinds on, he moved much better. He was without hinds for at least 6 months so he shouldn't have been sore anymore.

Anyway, at least I have a plan of action now.
Keep your fingers crossed for us, please.
 
It sounds like you might have had the wrong diet for your horses to succeed barefoot, Delta99. If they were footie after that length of time and you wanted to avoid shoeing you would need to look at sugar/carb (particularly grass) intake and possible mineral imbalances.

I hope your improvements continue, sometimes it is just imbalance that can be corrected with shoes on.
 
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