Navicular

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biscults

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Hi

Has anyone got a horse that has got navicular disease, I have just found out my boy has got it and as i only just got him (2 months ago) i am pretty gutted, however my vet has said with special shoeing and treatment it can possibly be managed.

I would like to hear of other people experiences, i only intend to do dressage with my chap and some poles however i did have high hopes to get passed prelim and novice!!

Thanks

Sarah
 
So sorry to hear that he has the dreaded disease but....did you have him fully vetted before you bought him? Navicular isn't something that happens 'over night' and I would be pretty gutted/angry if my new purchase was diagnosed as a navie.
 
Navicular syndrome is deemed to be a more accurate term because it can involve more than 1 process and is often used to refer to lameness specific to pain in the heel area.
It is degenerative but the rate at which it worsens will vary.
I am in no way an expert, but I do suspect that the term is used by some vets to cover unexplained lameness eminating from pain in this region of the foot.

I had a thoroughbred with flat feet and low heels. One vet claimed he had navicular on the first visit. Second and third opinion said he was just a footsore thoroughbred that needed his heels lifting a bit. I changed farrier and it was never a problem again.
 
Fairynuff said:
So sorry to hear that he has the dreaded disease but....did you have him fully vetted before you bought him? Navicular isn't something that happens 'over night' and I would be pretty gutted/angry if my new purchase was diagnosed as a navie.
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Yeah i had him fully vetted, however that is another issue and am in the process of dealing with this!!!! I didn't have x-rays done however as he had a clear vetting it wasn't advised or even thought of at the time.

Sarah
 
My old lad had Navicular and TBH it really depends how advanced it is as to what you do in terms of management. My boy had severe navicular that had progressed rapidly and he had damage to the DDFT as well as degeneration of the navicular bone. We tried tildren, shoeing and cortisone but it was all too advanced and he was PTS in Sept :(

However, MIL's horse was diagnosed about a month after Legend and he is doing really well with cortisone injections every 6 months and egg bars. You can tell he needs his cortisone re doing as he does go a bit lame (not even 1/10 really but if you knwo him you can tell he's not quite right) and you have to watch him on hard or really soft ground as he doesnt like that so much but with careful management you can keep them going for a long time :D
 
how was your horse diagnosed?
my tb was diagnosed last august. He had bone scans and there was an uptake of dye on the navicular area and he had x-rays which confirmed he had navicular. He started off by having remedial shoeing but he started pulling shoes off each week, wrecking his feet in the process. so we have taken his shoes off and are going barefoot. He is doing well so far and has just started abit of walk work. Iv had my boy 5 years and he is now 13, we did novice BD and he was doing some 90's at bsja. He won't jump again and i think i will be lucky if he does hacking and light schooling. He was also diagnosed with kissing spines and bone spavins in both hocks.
has your vet recomended any drugs? Mine has been on Navilox,( a powder in the feed) and in his case it has done the trick. i can also recomend magnetic boots. i have magnetic over reach boots, this helps increase the blood flow in the foot.
 
I had my boy of 12yrs put down last week because of navicular, we noticed the first sighs of it at the age of 7yrs, at first we thought it was just hard ground and flat feet. Then had the vet confirm that it navicular :(

He had and few years with special shoeing, which worked, then we had to start buteing him as well. We retired him at 11 yrs as he was uneven in front with both shoeing and bute, gave him the summer out at grass, and then made the horrid decision to put him down, as he was having troubles making tight turns (to turn in his stable, shut the gate etc) as he has to put most of his forehand.

I've heard some good reports from barefoot, only it wouldn't of worked with my boy as he had terrible flat feet.
 
china said:
how was your horse diagnosed?
my tb was diagnosed last august. He had bone scans and there was an uptake of dye on the navicular area and he had x-rays which confirmed he had navicular. He started off by having remedial shoeing but he started pulling shoes off each week, wrecking his feet in the process. so we have taken his shoes off and are going barefoot. He is doing well so far and has just started abit of walk work. Iv had my boy 5 years and he is now 13, we did novice BD and he was doing some 90's at bsja. He won't jump again and i think i will be lucky if he does hacking and light schooling. He was also diagnosed with kissing spines and bone spavins in both hocks.
has your vet recomended any drugs? Mine has been on Navilox,( a powder in the feed) and in his case it has done the trick. i can also recomend magnetic boots. i have magnetic over reach boots, this helps increase the blood flow in the foot.
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Hi
He had to have x-rays and the vet then advised that he had navicular, my vet has advised navilox and tridend, (or something like that) and the shoeing and see how we get on.... thanks for the advice on the magnetic boots i will look into these.

Sarah
 
I have seen case studies of barefoot working on very flat footed horses on line - I have also heard of some trimmers taking on horses who have tried everything

Not saying I Believe it will work but just wanted to add that

My best friend has a navi horse and she struggles to keep him sound with fancy shoes and drugs, at 7 that is a massive shame :-( Others do very well with treatment

Good luck with yours, I hope you can find something that works for you - there is never a good time to get this news but so soon into your journey together is a shame
 
Hi, take a look at my other posts. My boy was diagnosed with navicular last feb. As a last resort he went to rockley farm in December, he's due home soon going very well!
 
Have a look at the work that Nic Barker is doing on rehabbing horses with caudal hoof pain (navicular syndrome) at Rockley Farm.

It is quite interesting, and will give you food for thought.

Just google Rockley Farm.

And think about asking this question on the UKNHCP forum - plenty of help there from successful rehabs..
 
i got my magnetic boots off ebay, much cheaper that way. they are usually 20 odd pound each but i got a pair of brand new for £25. i think the company on ebay is called equimagnets that i got them from.
was it tildren you vet recomended. i have never been offered it nor do i think i would accept it. Just remember every horse is different, dont think the horror stories people tell you about theirs is going to happen to yours. x
 
Mine had navicular diagnosed by x-rays. Had adequan tildren HLA and bar shoes and still unsound. Barefoot March. Competing June. Jumping July. Hasn't stopped since.

Check out barefoot.

Did your vet take a blood test. If not, take a claim against the Vet.
 
brucea said:
Have a look at the work that Nic Barker is doing on rehabbing horses with caudal hoof pain (navicular syndrome) at Rockley Farm.

It is quite interesting, and will give you food for thought.

Just google Rockley Farm.

And think about asking this question on the UKNHCP forum - plenty of help there from successful rehabs..
Click to expand...

Ditto this....Barefoot all the way, diet and good hoof trimmer (EP)
IMO and IME the fancy meds, and corrective shoeing is a waste of resources , time and money. BAREFOOT I say :)
 
I rode a horse for someone with navicular. He evented, hunted, did dressage, sj, xc, hacked, worked at least 5 days a week for over an hour most days (was at a college, so other people occasionally needed him after me) he was fine, if he did too much work on harder ground in summer like xc schooling/xc he had danilon (didnt like bute) and he got danilon after hunting. just as a precaution. hes had it around 5 years now and still going strong :)
 
IME and IMO what works for one horse does not necessarily work for another.

I know horses that have been treated conventionally (meds and shoeing) with great success, I can also recommend Rockley Farm as my friends horse has just been rehabilitated by them with great success after vets had given up on him.

Be open to all treatment ideas, after all a closed mind is the worst thing we can have where horses are concerned.
 
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