to those who have horses with navicular-

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clairefeekerry1

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what were the signs before yours was diagnosed? what are the symptoms?? you sometimes you get a nagging feeling something just isn't right... i have that! my lovely horse has in the last few weeks, very occasionly seemed lame, and only on one rein in one gait, but only for a few strides, then he's fine. he also can be a bit stumbly, not tripping but more just sometimes the ground comes to his hoof quicker than he expected. sometimes when walking down hill he seems slightly short/tentative. he trots up sound and is currently doing everything at RC level. he is slightly pigeon toed and is 7. read an article today on navicular and everything seemed to tick the box. am i being silly! he isn't the sharpest tool in the box so my inst seems to think he's just being a bit lazy/green with his legs
 
He's probably absoloutely fine just being clumsy, when you are looking for a reason it can seem to always be the worst thing!

My boy started to be a bit lame occasionally in trot, on the road, but totally fine on grass. I treated him for an abscess and it obviously didn't work. The vet had no idea and X rays were done which confirmed navicular changes, but.....

I went the barefoot route and my AEP diagnosed WLD and treated that. He was sound then next day..... so I might just have outlined the symptoms of WLD not Navicular, but he is sound. Navicular is not the end of the world :)
 
i think your right, i read the article and thought omg. however, as he is sound on the lunge and trotted up i'm not sure how much a lameness work up would show? good luck for vet tomorrow, what are your symptoms??
 
my first 'symptom' was behaviour rather than clinical signs. He was very tense schooling - fine in walk and canter, but trot he never relaxed - tail clamped down, bit stiff. Wasn't technically lame though, instructor couldn't work it out. he started then being a LOON on the lunge. Then bucking under saddle as well, i stopped riding then finally he started to look lame. Got progressively worse despite four weeks box rest (did nothing to help). He looked fine on a soft surface for ages, but was absolutely crippled on a hard circle. Nothing showed up on x-rays, was only MRI that finally showed he had awful navicular in both fronts. Severe changes to both bones, and there wasn't really much i could do...

hope that doesn't depress you too much - fingers crossed yours is nothing sinister, but thought it might be helpful to hear my experience. have you tried lungeing him on a hard surface?
 
thank you, well his schooling has been a bit on and off recently which makes me wonder. he keeps trying to put his tougne over the bit, which with him doesnt surprise me as such but he generally seems a bit unsettled when schooling, however took him out this weekend to a show and he was so good, so counteracts that. never lunged on a hard surface. he can be a bit lazy to lunge so mite be diff to tell.
 
Mine has a chipped navicular bone and had no signs until after a long episode of box rest for a splint, so we dont actually no weather it was there before the box rest or during it :/ ... mine was 3/5 lame on a circle went for x rays etc got a steroid injection to were the chip was and remedial shoeing and i have a normal horse again :D He will trip sometimes in the school and out hacking he hates going downhill, goes abit like how you've described yours. Id get the vet to have a look if you feel hes not quite right
 
Pretty much in the same boat although my mare actually went off her hard feed!! (OMG time!) to ride she just wasn't her normal self, wasn't tracking up, reluctant to come in an outline and very tentative going downhill.

Had the works, vet call out then referal, xrays and nerve blocks etc, the vet said she's seen more of this kind of lameness this year than ever before and puts it down to the prolonged hard ground. Anyway xrays revealed some very minor changes to her navicular bone, but not enough to term 'navicular disease' she also didn't block out on nerve blocks to the navicular joint, it was her coffin joint she blocked out to, so had corticosteroids injections into her coffins, she also had changes to her hocks and the same injections into her hocks, her hocks have seen a vast improvement and although her front feet are alot better she's still not 100% on her fronts but it's only been a month and the ligaments around the joint can take a little longer to settle, so we're giving it a little longer since she improved so much.. I will add she's 15 years old, but a friends horse has been diagnosed with the same thing in his hocks and he's only 8!

So dont worry too much, if she's not right get the vet out, you know your horse.
 
If he isn't right I'd get the vet to check just incase, have you carried out a flexion test? This normally catches a problem if there is one. Have you thought maybe it could be a slight bit of arthritic changes? A survey was recently completed and it turned out that at least 80% of horses go through arthritic changes before they are 10! :o
 
i've not had a vet out yet as not sure wether they could tell me anything or not, would feel bit embarressed if i called them out and he appeared 100% sound, which he seems most of the time, just sometimes doesnt feel quite right. i think i'll call them tomorrow
 
sorry- meant to add, went to a show this weekend, 2 differnet well known showing judges placed me in both classes and rode him and didnt say anything- you would have thought if he wasnt right they'd notice??
 
clairefeekerry1 said:
i think your right, i read the article and thought omg. however, as he is sound on the lunge and trotted up i'm not sure how much a lameness work up would show? good luck for vet tomorrow, what are your symptoms??
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Symptoms are very similar to yours. He stumbles, hates going downhill, lands very flatfooted, finds it hard to work in a consistant outline, is very tentative and footy. Also pidgeon toed and the same age as your boy. Is much more noticeable on hard surface. Am hoping that if it is nav then we can get him right with treatment and remedial shoeing, will also look into possibility of barefoot although not sure what the prognosis would be, although I guess that will all depend on the severity of it. However I am purely speculating at the moment until it can be confirmed by vet tomorrow but you are right in what you say, you know when somethings not right and all of my boys signs would indicate some form of navicular. Hopefully I am completely wrong......but I don't think so :(
 
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Found out after I brought my horse that he had suspected navicular. He has never seemed lame to be, but can trip (like he's lazy). Also always chews on his bit like hes trying to get his tongue over it, didn't think this was a symptom but just saw someone else had mentioned it!?!?! Anyway not too worried about it at the mo, as he seems happy.
 
Perhaps if he's not feeling right give him a week off, if he still doesn't feel right or gets worse after I would definatly get the vet out, its best to catch it early.
 
clairefeekerry1 said:
sorry- meant to add, went to a show this weekend, 2 differnet well known showing judges placed me in both classes and rode him and didnt say anything- you would have thought if he wasnt right they'd notice??
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I competed my mare in dressage on the monday, came 2nd and did really well, 4 days later competed again on a very poor surface and she went right off, this was what started it off... At first I thought she'd just strained herself, but found to be arthritic changes. So don't worry about the shows, some horses on adrenalin from being at a show can over come minor pain and therefore hide some lameness. With regard to worrying about the vet seeing a sound horse, I had the same worries, but as said earlier you can't easily hide the lameness in a flexion test, which is what the vet will do. So go ahead and get a vet to check the horse out.
 
competitiondiva said:
So don't worry about the shows, some horses on adrenalin from being at a show can over come minor pain and therefore hide some lameness. With regard to worrying about the vet seeing a sound horse, I had the same worries, but as said earlier you can't easily hide the lameness in a flexion test, which is what the vet will do. So go ahead and get a vet to check the horse out.
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Yep def agree with this. You know him best and if you think something is off then I would investigate. Will let you know how ours goes tomorrow!
 
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