Why do horses get navicular?

[Orangehorse]

With the numerous shoes v. barefoot debates and the very common occurance of foot problems that we all encounter, shouldn't the farriery and veterinary profession be researching WHY horses get navicular and ways to prevent it, rather than waiting until it needs treating?

 

[loopylucifer]

correct me if wrong but its possiably to do with lack of blood supply to to the foot casuing the navicular bone to degengerate. But why some get it and others dont remain a mystery! was told many years ago my mare would almost definatly develop navicular due to her bad feet as yet never has although has many other thing wrong with them!
biggest problem is you just cant predict what horses will or wont devlop it

 

[ihatework]

Are you talking about traditional navicular disease or navicular syndrome?

It's difficult enough narrowing down the site and reason for pain in navicular syndrome, which can vary enormously.

At the end of the day influencing factors are pretty well known: foot conformation, genetics, concussion, nutrition, farriery etc. yet it continues to baffle lot of people!

The problem with research is that there isn't sufficient funding available especially when you are looking at a condition with multiple causes.

 

[Dressagebabe]

The main cause for Navicular is bad foot shape!!this, unfortunately is down to the farrier. However, if the owner neglects trimming/shoeing then this too is a problem. I bought a horse as a 4yr old with Navicular changes (slight pits in the navicular bone) he had dreadfully shaped feet and so my husband (Vet) said it was worth the risk to see if we could sort them. My Farrier whom is a top remedial farrier that works on seriously expensive horses is a family friend so he offered to come and have a look before we bought him. Within a year of remedial shoeing the navicular changes had stopped and the side bone that he also had, had re-absorbed. 10yrs down the line he is still training at advanced level with fantastic feet.

 

[pinktiger]

is navicular soley down to poor shoeing??? i was led to bel that alot could be conformational ie,, upright in front pressure points in feet and blood circulation therefore!!! is it me or is navicular becoming more common???? seem to hear alot more horses getting it nowadays or is it technology thats developed the diagnosis process??

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Other contributory causes for navicular syndrome include the work the horse has done during its life and its way of going. I bought a wonderful Highland x from a trekking centre where he had been the star of the show and was as safe as houses. Consequently, he had done a lot of work and, as might be expected with a succession of total beginners on his back, he slopped along happily on his forehand all the time. The end result of this is abnormal demand on the front feet and gradual damage to the structures within the hoof capsule itself. Poor soul. He developed bilateral front foot lameness and the vet said he had never seen such a bad case. RIP Sullivan. I think there ARE ways we can all try to prevent this happening ie correct riding and farriery but the sad truth is a horse was designed to carry ITSELF on its feet, not itself and a rider. If we all had to carry a child on our shoulders for 20 years, I bet we'd have foot problems too!

 

[liveryblues]

I was under the impression it was to do with blood flow restriction to the navicular bone. My farrier said it is a problem commonly seen in manafactured breeds and rarely seen in natives. ( would be interesting to see if this is the case!) My friend Has a very well bred WB bought as a foal at foot with the mare, He unfortunately showed signs of navicular changes after much investigation into his lameness when backed as a 3 year old. He had slightly upright fronts & being on a competion yard spent an awful lot of time stood in a stable, this definitely didnt help as blood flow would have been resticted even more due to lack of movement. Having said that many horses spend alot of time in stables without any side affects. Again many horses can have bad feet without developing navicular. I think its safe to say that are several different factors which can accelerate navicular syndrome but i think an unlucky few are just more prone to it.

 

[spot2]

Some very brief thoughts on navicular

In my opinion navicular problems are commonly caused by misalignment of the bones of the the pastern and hoof (the phalanges) Long toes and or low heels cause these bones to form a curve, when viewed from the side at stance, instead of a straight line or axis. This is referred to as a broken back, hoof pastern axis (hpa). The effect of this curve is to increase the strain on the deep digital flexor tendon (ddft) as it runs over the navicular bone, the constant pressure can reduce the blood supply to the navicular bone. In addition a horse may not be able to differentiate between heel pain and navicular pain, hence the term caudal hoof pain which covers both. This may cause a horse to contract the ddft muscle in an attempt to raise the heel but in effect further pressurise the navicular area.
Causes can be; Poor conformation, incorrect trimming or shoeing, too long a shoeing/trimming interval, Lack of correction.

.

 

[Orangehorse]

Well the worrying one there is "incorrect trimming or shoeing" as we pay a farrier to do a professional job.

I have heard of a 6 year old show horse put down with navicular, so how did that happen? It must have had good conformation to be a show horse.

 

[spot2]

From a farriery perspective "incorrect trimming or shoeing" is the worrying one. The standard of farriery does, as in any profession, vary.

So also do theories of correctness.

We do need to gain a better understanding of this problem and to test the various theories as to what is correct.
Ben_and_Jerrys
[ QUOTE ]
The problem with research is that there isn't sufficient funding available especially when you are looking at a condition with multiple causes.


[/ QUOTE ]
For this reason we often have to fall back on anecdotal evidence such as that of Dressage_babe, a good result

it shows that there are cases of navicular syndrome that, with the correct treatment, can be helped. But the results remain inconclusive

[ QUOTE ]
It must have had good conformation to be a show horse.

[/ QUOTE ] Perhaps this goes back to your point about [ QUOTE ]
a professional job.


[/ QUOTE ] I might say "I would hope that it had a good conformation as it was a show horse" and that "I trust a farrier to do his/her best for the horse".

I get worried when I see horses that I feel are potential candidates for navicular and I appreciate others who like yourself have an interest in the problem.