There won't be a Hickstead report, there won't be any more reports from Soap :(

[kit279]

Try not to worry - give him a little time off, see if the hind leg is better and then see whether the front lameness is still there.

A lot of horses have navicular changes and it's extremely hard to know how much trouble they actually cause the horse. When vets work up the horse, they will find things - the skill and experience of the vet really shows when they can make a call about how much the lameness is a problem.

I would get a second opinion but I would wait a few weeks to let the hind leg settle and then see. Soap has been eventing for years very happily without loss of performance - that does not sound like a navicular horse to me. If he was stopping, intermittently lame and sound, miserable on hard going and , then I'd think differently but it's not a typical history and I know the vets do like to give the worst prognosis so that everything seems like a positive afterwards!

 

[dressage_diva]

I don't have anything constructive to add which hasn't already been said, but just wanted to send a big hug as I love hearing your and Soap stories on here. Sending lots of vibes your way.

 

[Perfect_Pirouette]

Am gutted for you

YOU'RE NOT BEATEN YET!! Hickstead may be out yes (although just pretend they never accepted your late entry) but he might make near enough a full recovery. You have to be positive and push all the negatives thoughts from your mind until/when something more sinister is actually confirmed.

I wish him a very speedy recovery (as I'm sure he will!!) xxxx

 

[superpony]

Aww I am sorry. But like others have said navicular can be controlled.

My TB was diagnosed last year and I was absolutly gutted.. vet gave me worse case prognois etc, ironically I'd bought the TB to replace the semi retired pony too and have something I could jump - at the time thought it was the end of doing anymore of that.

But infact he had medication and eggbars and is now 100% sound, he jumps, dressages etc and doesn't have any issues so it can be sorted. Hope he comes right for you.

 

[Fairy Dust]

So sorry to hear that, poor soap

Don't give up though, you are in the early stages of diagnosis and there are so many options now a days. I know it's hard but just try and stay positive

 

[TPO]

Chloe I'm really sorry to hear about Soap.

My TB mare had navic in one front only (vet said it was 8/10 for how developed it was) and it too came out of the blue. She'd been at the vet hospital 3mths prior for a full work up and was given a clear bill of health (was in for "back issues" not lameness). I lost her a year ago this coming Wednesday.

The options I was offered didn't sound humane or ethical to me (de-nerving etc) and I did ask about barefoot but was told that it wouldn't work and her feet were balanced as they were. So I made the decision for her to be pts as I didn't want her to suffer and get worse just so I could keep her. There just aren't words for how gutted I am even all this time later.

Anyway my point is this lead me to find out more about this barefoot nonsense and I owe so much to cptrayes for literally clanging me over the head with it.

I don't have time to write a full response right now but please don't go thinking the worst because of the navic diagnosis. Have a quick google for Pete Ramey's site and look at the x-rays he has of navic horses that are sound and in full work barefoot.

Everything I found led me to taking my current TB gelding barefoot and while its been far from easy the difference in his feet and stride is amazing and hopefully I'll never lose another to navic.

Look back my old posts re barefoot to see what I mean. Look at Rockley Farm and email Nic Barker (so helpful). I can post you down books (or easy enough to get off amazon).

I'm 90% sure if I'd just brought TPO home that day and googled (which is so me!) then I'd have found this out and she'd have been at Rockley Farm before you could say "Eric Gillies" meaning I'd still have her today.

I'm know I'm over emotional on this subject and totally projecting but please don't go thinking the worse. I had so many lightbulb moments just reading the barefoot books. I'm really into anatomy and it just made so much sense to enable the hoof to function as nature intended.

I'll stop drivelling on but please give it some consideration - what do you have to lose by trying and you stand to gain a lot.

Re Rockley Farm - a lot of the horses there are on their final chance as they've already gone through tildren, shoeing, this that and the next and they still bring them back sound. The recovery when RF is the first port of call can only be quicker.

I know EXACTLY how you're feeling receiving this diagnosis but please just take some time to think it through.

If anything above sounds of any interest or I can do anything please just let me know; either PM on here or FB

Take care and hugs to Soap xx

 

[angelish]

so sorry to read that ,what a shock
fingers crossed for you and soap x

 

[TarrSteps]

Oh dear, what a disappointment! Poor you.

Lots of good advice above but I would add "navicular" isn't even really considered a diagnosis now, as the syndrome really seems to mean "heel pain, origin to be determined". They did a study in the US giving vets xrays and history/observational findings and asking them to match the two. The success rate was very low, in other words xray evidence is not a reliable indicator of lameness or vice versa. And, as you say, he has been sound up to this point. Get the hind leg sorted then see where you are going forward.

Sucks about Hickstead, though.

 

[WellyBaggins]

So sorry to hear this Chloe

 

[Rosiefan]

Everybody has given you loads of advice and I can't add anything useful so am just sending you (and Soap) virtual hugs. x

 

[Gingerbird]

Everybody has given you loads of advice and I can't add anything useful so am just sending you (and Soap) virtual hugs. x

Rosiefan said it for me, Hugs honey xx

 

[Chloe_GHE]

thank you everyone for the support, I'm going to investigate the bare foot route, but according to the xray he has perfect foot balance, and my farrier is excellent.
think maybe I might leave his front foot till the back leg is sorted, and then think about medicating that.....not sure....so much to research, questions to ask etc....

 

[Nic86]

Hi really sorry to hear that but don't loose hope. My ex racer was diagnosed with navicular 4 years ago I hadf got him fit to event and then he went lame. The vet said it was stress navicular beacused he had raced a lot and that he would never event. His feet were good but my farrier worked magic with a set of heart bar shoes and he's now 14 and having a full life as a pony club horse working hard and will soon be starting to event again!! I never thought he would be up to this sort of work load again with what the vet said but he is pain free and happy. I just wanted to share this as I was where you are now devastated with little hope and now my old boy is like it never happened. If you catch it early enough and it sounds like you have it is very easily managed. Good luck

 

[SusieT]

Did the vet nerve block the front foot at all and if so did he come sound? X-rays are very good but need to be treated carefully as changes does not neccessarily equal lameness.. If he has been sound up to now (I presume?) One might think that ht primary issue is the back leg lameness(what was the diagnosis for this?) and that once it is resolved he may return to full soundness...
or it could be a chronic problem exacerbated by the back leg issue of course

 

[Haniki]

So sorry to hear about Soap and the fact that you will miss Hickstead. I think as you say, to let the hind leg heal and then reassess the front foot, is the best route forward. I had a friend whose horse had navicular and with egg bar shoes went on to do all riding club events.

 

[OneInAMillion]

oh chloe I know exactly how you feel

Drum was lame for 6 weeks. It was a really strange lameness. Sound then a few lame strides then completely lame then completely sound. Farrier was pretty much convinced it was navicular, he said it isn't actually the end of the world now because medication can let them lead a normal life and carry on (obviously with monitoring).

Anyway once the vet came and x-rayed it turned out D has joint conditions (seriously), arthritis, osteochondritis and soft tissue. Basically the pony who still wants to jump 1m10 will never jump above 70 again. I can't even begin to tell you how gutted I am, but I think you are already feeling like that...To hear the vet say those things about my little star lead me to spend the evening crying into his mane.

But let me promise you this, that was 2 weeks ago and now it all starts to sink in that we are lucky to still be able to have the pony that will always hold a place in our heart. I still cry every so often because everything we had built up together and are now so ready to do but can't. But then he smiles at me and then you realise that you have still got that character even if they aren't quite how they were originally intended

 

[Jane_Lou]

I am so sorry to hear this but I really would not give up hope. I had a little horse who kept going lame on on diagonal pairs aged about 10. Nerve blocks were inconclusive, each time we blocked one leg he would go lame on another. Eventually we did extensive xrays and the vet identified minor changes in the navicular bone in one foot, rather like soap. They then slapped a "navicular" diagnosis on him and that was that - I was resigned to a life of light hacking and early retirement but started him with a new physio just in case, he basically found all sorts of problems with his back around the withers and neck which was casuing the lameness. He went on to event at pn, complete up to medium dressage and in later life be the perfect dressage schoolmaster to many of my friends children. He died of cancer aged 23 never having had another days lameness in his life. The point I am trying to make is minor changes are not always the end, the lameness problem could well be casued by something else not immediately apparent.

 

[MegaBeast]

So sorry to hear this Chloe. Nothing constructive to add to what has been said already, take it a day at a time, get the back leg right and then reassess the front. Really really hope there'll be a happy outcome for you. Sounds like you've caught it early which should surely aid treatment?

 

[MissSBird]

How horrible. I am so sorry for you both

 

[kerilli]

big hugs hun, but don't despair... afaik 'bony changes' really don't mean much unless you have previous x-rays for comparison.
as said above, sort out hindleg problem, then worry about front end.
gutted for you about Hickstead. chuffing horses.

 

[chels]

I'm so sorry to hear Chloe. Poor you and poor Soap! Sending hugs xx
When I had my grey vet checked the first vet started screaming navicular, one foot more so than the other. I was devastated, he's the horse of my dreams. I'd been riding him for 2 years already so felt I couldn't just walk away. Never been lame. Got a second vet, she said yes bony changes, but look at the size of him and the shape of his feet! Changes yes, navic no. So he came home, no foot lameness in 3 years. My farrier is brill, keeps his levels perfect, and I am careful about hard going, but never had any trouble. There is hope!

 

[ecrozier]

No lightbulb moments to add apart from to say that my old girl was diagnosed with 'navicular' in 1998 aged 7. She did course of navilox and about 18 months on egg bar shoes but has never had a days lameness since from her front feet..... She's never worked hard per se but done plenty of hacking of lengthy time and distances over all sorts of ground and speaking to my current vet years later he said it may never have been the bony changes that caused that lameness all those years back - could have been complete coincidence!

 

[ecrozier]

Dammit hit send to soon!
Meant to say don't give up, get hind leg sorted and go from there! Will keep fingers crossed.

 

[TPO]

My mare had "perfect" foot balance and was shod by an "excellent" farrier as well.

Sometimes what we consider as perfect or excellent isn't what the horse needs. In no way slurring you vet or farrier. Just been there, got drunk and ended up with the tattoo...

Know even more how you feel as just had devastating news about my current boy and its not looking rosey.I don't even know who to trust as had so much conflicting diagnosis and opinion from "experts" just going to drown myself in the bottom of bottle of Bundy rum and hope when I wake up tomorrow it's all been a bad dream

 

[measles]

So sorry to hear things are so confusing and negatiave. I really hope some clarity appears and the actual prognosis is better.

 

[Shipley]

hugs nothing advise wise to offer xx

 

[blakesmum]

Please have a look at Rockley, a friend sent her boy there when the vets had written him off. The horse is back in work and has even been out hunting on Exmoor. From what I understand it's not all to do with the perfect balanced foot, it's diet and stimulus of the frog as well (please correct me if I'm wrong Rockley people)

 

[smac]

Oh no, so gutted to hear!! And so close to Hickstead.

Im not going to add anymore advice, but I'm just going to say don't give up yet. I have lost to navic, and have a ** eventer with eggbars and pads with navic. I have one retired at 8 and grazing in field with it and every thing in between. You just have to find the happy medium for each individual. Hugs.xxxxx

 

[mini-eventer]

I don't very often post on here but I followed your posts and I really wanted to you have my sympathies. I am gutted for you. I know how much you were looking forward to hickstead.

I would be sobbing now if I were you. My horse is having soundness issues (coffin joint¬!!!!!) I am terrible at dealing with dissapointments. However at the moment (touch wood)I can keep him sound enough to compete I am just very careful about the ground and I dont run very often.

When he was eventually dignosed he had been lame for 3 months I wasnt even sure if he would come sound for hacking. The vets seamed to think joint injections were the best thing to try. While I was thinking about treatment he just came sound. My farrier did look at his foot balance which I believe helped.

He has stayed sound since (6months) in full work. Athough he went lame last week but 5days off and he is sound again I presume it was realated to the previous lameness but wont know for sure.

I am majorly keeping my fingers crossed he will stay sound for now.

GOOD LUCK

and dont give up just yet

BIG HUGS x

 

[Hels_Bells]

Oh this is so awful! we all live on the knife edge that this could happen to any one of us at any time such are horses. am so sorry especially after the hickstead situation. Sending all and everything we can in vibes to you and soap for a quick resolution to the problem.