ok, SO MUCH worse than we thought

rupertsmum

rupertsmum

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My TB has navicular....

he has very low heels that are contributing quite alot to the problem and we are having heel raisers and frog supports put on next week.

Anybody lived and coped with this?
 
This happened to my horse to i cryed so much when we found out but hes only like 1/10 lame on a circle to the right! He got a splint at the same time so the vet said 8 weeks box rest then we got a vet out when ther was no improvement and x rayed him and turned out to ne a chipped nav bone ... he is a tb and has low heels and sensitive soles. Got remedial shoeing with gel pads then eventually got wedge shoes to raise the heels ... worst decision EVER

the vets hadnt used them before so thought it may help but it made him worst couldnt trot or canter properly started rodeoing because they wer so uncomfortable and my old farrier said if we kept the wedges he'd b cripled in 2 years ... my new farrier said he would never fit them either ... he only had them on for 6 weeks and we had to bring him right back to walking and bring him back slowly after getting him back nearly to full fitness ... he now has concussion pads and normal shoes and is brill
 
oh my goodness. perhaps i'll have a chat with teh vet about the wedges then to see if there is an alternative
 
my vet wasnt keen on wedges, so just put eggbars on - she was still unlevel so farrier tried wedges went immediatly sound - she stayed that way for 10 months - and recently had 3 weeks where was just ever so slightly unlevel - we think due to hard ground - she was xrayed again and there are slight changes to nav bone - vet advised keep with wedges even though they do actually crush the heels (when you really want them to come up)
I asked the farrier what he thought - ha said try her without wedges he can always pop along and put them in any time i wanted them afterwards. so we went without wedges and she is sound as a pound - so i would definately ask your farrier - were your x rays digital???? ask vet to email to you - show your farrier - he will be best one to ask.
My farrier sets eggbars right back and takes the toe right off so as short as can be. Helps breakover, helps not to have her landing toe first and hopefully heels will come up a bit now.

good luck and believe me i know how you feel - i didnt stop crying for days!!!
 
mi friend was also talking to someone whos horse had the wedged shoes for i think it was 3 years for nav and it eneded in it crushing its pedal bone :S this realy scared me as my horse still had them and had went downhill ... when he got them off he could bearly walk and his legs were like baps, was lame for about a week then was fine
 
No experience myself but my friend's TB had exactly the same problem - low heels, navicular syndrome. she was distraught but decided to try the barefoot route. Shoes taken off and VERY regular and careful trimming to get the foot more upright. Ridden work = old mac boots or similar. She got some from America. Not cheap but you wouldn't believe her horse now! He used to be hopping lame if he lost a front shoe - really, almost unable to walk and terrifying everyone into thinking he'd broken a leg! Nobody believed he could ever go barefoot. But he's on a yard where there's only a few feet of concrete he has to tiptoe across between the fields and his stable and after a few weeks of barefoot and no work, followed by a few months of hoof trimming/gentle walks in his boots, he is sound and enjoying his normal mad gallops round the countryside. He does lose/destroy his boots at an alarming rate and if he's ridden without his boots he gets a little footsore but beyond that AT THE MOMENT he's fine, sound, back to normal work.
 
Have a look on ebay at the hoofboots; I bought Ben some Old Mac G2's in January; he wears them at least four times a week for up to three hours, he can do everything in them. Well worth the effort of putting them on, never had one come off either!

Only the breakover has worn at the toe, the rest is in new condition, they should last me at least another 6 months, fingers crossed!
 
I really really dislike wedges, for everything mentioned above. If heartbars don't work, I would turn your horse out for the summer barefoot, to let blood flow return to the foot properly and help the healing process. With regular trimming, this should encourage healthy heal growth, and you can go from there in regards to keeping him sound in work.
 
After reading these 'barefoot'stories i'm seriously seeing the benefits, something I never though i'd say!

however, although the Rockley Farm looks perfect for what I would like to do, I really cannot afford £100 a week livery.

Does anyone know a farrier in Hampshire/West Sussex who is a Barefoot practitioner. I've looked on the UKNHCP website and there doesn't seem to be anyone closer than the SW area of the country.
 
rupertsmum said:
After reading these 'barefoot'stories i'm seriously seeing the benefits, something I never though i'd say!

however, although the Rockley Farm looks perfect for what I would like to do, I really cannot afford £100 a week livery.

Does anyone know a farrier in Hampshire/West Sussex who is a Barefoot practitioner. I've looked on the UKNHCP website and there doesn't seem to be anyone closer than the SW area of the country.
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Don't forget there are other organisations training trimmers in the UK, the UKNHCP is just one of many, so don't just restrict your search just to them. I would highly recommend Caroline Andresen, she's based near Bath but she covers a wide area and may well come out as far as you. She's a Certified Practioner with the AANHCP - the longest standing barefoot organisation and is an excellent trimmer, fully insured and will give you the best possible advice. Her website is here: http://www.ukhooftrimmers.co.uk/home

Otherwise you could try one of the KC Lapierre trained trimmers - list here: http://www.aepsupplies.co.uk/index.cfm?sid=21583&pid=330571
 
Does the horse have changes to navicular bone or navicular syndrome (ie foot pain - low heels, possible soft tissue inflammation, flat soles, thin soles etc).
My TB was diagnosed with general foot pain as result of bad foot balance.

He was put on low level of bute & remedially shod. Natural balance type shoes basically. This brought him sound very quickly. He had original levels of lameness similar to yours. New farrier last year suggested taking shoes off, which I did, and the improvement in his feet is enormous. Just in the process of getting him some old macs & he is doing field work bute free & sound!
 
My vet report says Syndrome but he also said that there are changes to the bone so i'm a bit confused. it wa sas bit of an emotional rollercoaster yesterday to be too coherent ;( Mr Darcy Thank you for your recommendations- as I said i've never really looked into barefoot before so know little about it and on teh webistes you suggested I have found 2 practitioners near me who i have contacted.

feeling more positive today :) Thank you everyone
 
When my old Arab was diagnosed with navicular 6 years ago, the vet hospital recommended wedges. After about 6 months my farrier refused to keep using them as he said they were crushing the heels and hampering regrowth. So he's been in normal shoes with filed-down toes (thinned more than rolled) for the past 5 years, and his heels have grown dramatically. He's certainly not sound, but is happy in the field, and not on any medication.

If he'd been diagnosed more recently, and was younger, I would definitely try the barefoot option.
 
rupertsmum said:
My vet report says Syndrome but he also said that there are changes to the bone so i'm a bit confused. it wa sas bit of an emotional rollercoaster yesterday to be too coherent ;( Mr Darcy Thank you for your recommendations- as I said i've never really looked into barefoot before so know little about it and on teh webistes you suggested I have found 2 practitioners near me who i have contacted.

feeling more positive today :) Thank you everyone
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It's a devastating thing because the word navicular has always been understood as the end of the road for horses. Fifteen years ago my very first horse (bought with a bank loan for a car) was diagnosed with navic, complete with bony changes. My vet gave me two options - denerving or PTS. I didn't (and still don't) agree with denerving so had to take the latter option. But now there is the barefoot option - it is working for so many horses and even horses totally written off are now back performing at the level they were at before they went lame. Whereas before navicular was considered incureable the evidence is now growing that it is anything but... in fact what happened with my first horse and what I have seen with rehabbing navic horses is one of the main reasons I trained as a barefoot trimmer.

Good luck with your lad and honestly you have every reason to think positively - it is not the end by any means.
 
It's sad that so many people look at barefoot rehap as a 'last resort' when actually pads and wedges and bars only progressively make it worse, until nothing more can be done. THEN taking the shoes off is finally tried and all that damage is undone. :rolleyes:

Putting wedges and pad on will initially make the horse more comfortable but in the long term is counterproductive to healing: all it's doing is exaggerating the initial cause of the damage.

Horses SHOULD land heel first but if they are heel sore due to poor shoeing/underdeveloped feet (long or underruning/lack of digital cushion etc) they will land toe first. Toe first landing causes stress and strain, then damage, on the flexor tendons and the navicular bone, resulting in 'navicular'.

Putting wedges on just makes them land even more toe first. It helps take the strain off the flexor tendons and navicular but does little for the initial heel pain that caused it in the first place. Sometimes it even makes the heel pain worse:(
 
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