What else can i do to get that goal of heel first landing in my navicular horse?

[Daisychain]

Some of you may know my story others will not! Basically in July 2008 i bought the most fantastic horse i have ever had. 11yo belgian warmblood. I competed him, in showjumping and dressage through the winter, took him bloodhounding, where we galloped and jumped all day with no problems.

Then onto the spring where we entered our first B.E. competition which he won. Two weeks later we competed in our 2nd B.E. where he finished well and sound. After this competition i took him back to my home, as he had been on livery for most of the winter, being mainly in and out for around 5hrs a day. So on return from out B.E. he was fine for around 3 days then went lame, more on one foot than the other and pottery.

Anyway this went on for couple of months, he had bar shoes as vet thought soft tissue trauma etc. Then he went for x rays which revealed holes in his navicular bone, but no errosion. Vet told me he would never be right and probably better to pts.

I then went the barefoot route in about august last year, and he eventually came sound, we had a great spring, hacking and indoor showjumping.

Once returning to my field in may he went unlevel again, and then has been on and off all summer, his feet look really great now, and he has some concavity finally appearing in his front feet, his heels have opened up and we are starting to get rid of the deep sulcus that were very prominent in 3 of his feet.

I have a good barefoot trimmer, who's work has been commended by my vet and farrier.

His feet are still fairly elongated, and the toe is removed as much as not too make him sore.

So im trying to think went went wrong this summer, do you think he could be grass sensitive? although he is fine now, i did increase his road work intially and i do think it made him foot sore, along with the hard ground, and maybe aggrevating the navicular too?

He is currently sound, which is great, and i have him on magnesium and nav x by hilton herbs, he has only just started these supplements. I would love too think we could keep him sound, but my one biggest gripe is that even when he is sound, he still slightly toe walks, which would indicate his navicular bone being sore still.

I have read of so many success stories, and thought we had got it right, but im starting to wonder now, and i can't bear the thought of setting myself up for dissapointment all the time.

So all you die hard barefooters, do you have any faith in my boy? Do you think we could get that heel landing first? Because by all accounts and all the research i have done, that is the key to long term soundness.

Thankyou if you have read this rather long thread!

 

[Laura1812]

For my chap the heel first landing comes from walking on tarmac - he can still be toe first occasionally on the soft in the field although this is improving.

Points to the tendons being sore IMO which makes sense why he is better on the hard.

I would say lots of slow and steady walking on smooth tarmac

 

[Spinal Tap]

If you walk him downhill he can't really help but land heel first. Might this be a way to get some stimulation/structure going in his heels? My old horse's heels were crap when he came out of shoes & my EP had me handwalking him with solemate pads taped to his feet every day. It was a monumental pain in the bum but his heels improved faster than I would have believed possible

 

[mrdarcy]

I think you've pinpointed the problem yourself - he was doing well until this summer when he returned home and went out in the field. Then he went footy. But now he is doing better again - as the sugar content in the grass is receeding. The fact he still has an elongated toe also indicates too much sugar in his diet. It sounds like his unlevelness this summer is diet related not navicular related - IMO anyway. So yes - I have great faith in your boy... you may have to restrict his grazing in the summer months in the future but it will be well worth it. He sounds fab!

Incidentally whilst I like to see a nice heel first landing on hard smooth ground at walk, the heel first landing does not apply to all situations. On softer or slippy ground the horse might toe first to get better grip, or on uneven surfaces roll from outside to inside or vice versa. So whilst a change from toe first to heel first landing on hard smooth ground is a great sign that things are improving it doesn't mean that the horse should always land its foot that way.

 

[Daisychain]

Thankyou everyone, that is interesting about the toe being longer due to the sugars in grass? Why is this particularly?

I have been thinking of getting hoof boots with pads too? As im a bit paronoid about making him sore again.

 

[Laura1812]

I'm sorry but I don't purport to grass being a major problem in most horses.

I would go with the fact that as he is landing toe first, the toes are recieving more stimulus and so growth is faster, but hey i'm happy to be proved wrong!!

 

[Laura1812]

Hoof boots wont be much use in conditioning the foot to be stronger - hours of handwalking with or without pads are your best option as you then get the stimulus for the frog spine and in turn the digital cushion and related soft tissue.

 

[amandap]

Once returning to my field in may he went unlevel again, and then has been on and off all summer, his feet look really great now, and he has some concavity finally appearing in his front feet, his heels have opened up and we are starting to get rid of the deep sulcus that were very prominent in 3 of his feet.

This seems to be a big factor in his soundness. Can you get your soil and grass tested? Liming may help as well as taking him off the grass at high risk times. Sugar content being high as Mr Darcy says is a likely culprit ime.

I believe toe first landing is mainly due to pain/discomfort in the back part of the foot... thrush, poor foot development (weak lateral cartilages, digital cushion, frog...), lgl etc. etc.

 

[Oberon]

My elderly Arab has been barefoot for six years. He's never landed heel first.

 

[Daisychain]

Really... has he remained sound? Does he have a long toe or short breakover, by all accounts it seems to be the long toe which affects the breakover from what i can find.

 

[cptrayes]

I agree that it's not common that grass makes them outright lame, as opposed to slightly sensitive on stones (which is very common indeed) but the timing is so absolutely spot on when he got worse and now when he is better again, that it has to be your number one culprit.

Oberon your Arab is interesting! I assume he's sound but retired?? Can you tell us if he lands flat, or toe first?

 

[Daisychain]

I would like to think that the grass has something to do with it.... and it is very odd how it happend so suddenly like last year.... but i don't want to be under false pretence!

Next spring i will absolutely make sure he has no fertilized grass, and i will watch like a hawk to avoid possible grass sensitivity. He was definately very sore for awhile.

I am about to start hacking him out again, undesided wether to use boots or just do small amount of roadwork each day to strengthen his feet up???

His feet do look very good now.

 

[cptrayes]

I'm a huge fan of roadwork myself. It does all your trimming for you and produces the foot in the shape that the horse wants. It seems to promote very fast growth. And it allows you to work without worrying about boots if the road surface is smoothish without too many loose stones on it.

I keep my boys off grass 10am to 7pm in spring, summer and early autumn and that does the trick for my sensitive one. I have another who is effectively allergic to grass and can't have any, but that's a different story and he is on loan now.