Please help my horse is hurt!!?

Question

Well He has been limping for about a month or so and I thought it was just a hot nail or something but he never got better after all of his shoes were restet. So we took him to the vet today and he said that he has a problem with the navicular bone. I think it is the bone. And somehow it is connected to the nerve or somethin. Im not really sure. But I really need help with this because I don't even know what it is really. Tell me if your horse has it and what you do to help it.

Thank You = )

Answer 1

I have never really dealt with problems with navicular bones, personally. I did some research on the internet, and found these sites quite enlightening.

http://www.equusite.com/articles/health/...

http://www.horseoz.com/general_articles/...

http://www.thehorse.com/TopicSearch/Defa...

http://www.horsequest.com/journal/health...

I wish you the best of luck with your horse. It's going to take some time and dedication, both of which I know you are willing to do.

Answer 2

this should answer everything

http://horses-arizona.com/pages/articles...

for treatment, ask your farrier. he's gotta do just about everything to make it better by using different shoes and/or cutting the hoof just enough to relieve pressure. if that doesn't work, surgery might be in order.

this isn't a very easy thing to fix :( i wish you the best of luck!

Answer 3

u should call a vet and bring him in Quick ur horse may have serios injures =)

Answer 4

It sounds like Navicular diease, you can't cure it, but there are treatments (painkillers etc.) i would talk to my vet about the options, depending on the severity of the case he may or may not be sound again :(. good luck

Answer 5

You can't tell if it's navicular without RADs for sure, in addition there's nerve blocking which will spell out the area of pain, basically. EDIT; and vice versa, a horse may have funky things going on in the RADs but are perfectly sound-many warmbloods have funky looking things in the navicular area-but it's just a trait that is now accepted as normal.

A more appropriate term would be caudal heel pain, which is basically a non-descript lameness in the heel area, it can be from something as simple as an inbalanced hoof, contracted hooves(basically inbalanced), or it could be bony changes depending on the final diagnosis.

The first step is to diagnose the lameness-you can't say "oh! Navicular!" just from looking at the horse, get RADs taken and get him nerve blocked. If he does have bony changes then you need to look at some options. Many barefoot people have been claiming that they can rehab a navicular horse, many farriers have had very good success in bringing the horse back to it's original self through corrective shoes and proper application, a good farrier may be able to help him along-special shoes might be required atleast for a bit.  The important thing though is to make sure you, your vet, and your farrier are working closely.

Special shoes can be expensive, and in some cases unneeded, so make sure you consult your vet, farrier, and explore all the options available. A horse with navicular is not considered doomed, as they used to be, thanks to the medical innovations that did not exist 10, 15 years ago.

EDIT;

If your vet is talking about cutting the nerves, MAKE SURE that you fully diagnose it and explore EVERY possible option. De-nerving a horse gives it relief, but it's a band-aid and should only be used when nothing else could be done. If you get it done you must be extremely careful, the horse will not be able to feel it's front feet, if it's drastically injured then it make continue on as though nothing were wrong, making the injury worse-people have said that horses with cut nerves were not good options for heavy riding/jumping because it can be dangerous for both rider and horse.

Answer 6

It's called navicular syndrome and involves deterioration of the navicular bone  that is behind the coffin bone in the hoof.  In order to diagnose it, xrays should be taken...although the vet may have a pretty good idea without them....still should be done to determine the degree of damage.

It is progressive, meaning it gets worse over time, and the horse may have restrictions on how and where you ride.  Barefoot trims by a trained barefoot farrier helps, and some creative shoeing can help.

The problems in the hoof involved degeneration of cartilage that allows the navicular to become inflamed and to damage other tissues in the hoof.  Medicines are also used, like antiinflammatory drugs, to slow down the progress of deterioration of the bone and other tissues.

Surgery to denerve the area is aimed at pain relief.  I've known many denerved horses...it used to be done all the time to thoroughbreds off the track...I don't recommend it...it makes riding dangerous since the horse can't feel anything after it's done.

So....it's not good news.  It definitely means things have to change, but if you can live with some limitations and provide the medications, it can work out.

Answer 7

With the help of http://equestrianmag.com, here's a defination of navicular disease.

"Navicular Disease

Navicular disease can be difficult to diagnose since there are many factors that could potentially cause pain in and around the navicular bone. Because Navicular disease is difficult to define, veterinarians often consider problems associated with this area part of navicular syndrome. This term refers to pain located in the area surrounding the navicular bone, whether the bone, bursa or tendon is at fault.

Certain horses are more at risk to develop navicular syndrome than others. Horses with small feet compared to the size of their body, horses between the ages of ten and thirteen, horses kept in stalls or horses that are physically active are more at risk. Potential symptoms for navicular syndrome could be a constant shifting of body weight, refusing to lengthen its stride, pointing or having a stumbling gait. Depending on the particular problem your horses is experiencing, a variety of treatment options are available and should be discussed with your veterinarian."

Now I'll add...  I've had 3 horses in my lifetime that have had navicular.  The first one I bought without understanding what "navicular disease" was.  The 2nd one it happened to while I had him leased out.  The 3rd I still have and he's approaching his 20's.  In this decade they have come up with a WONDERFUL shoe that REALLY helps, one of the manufactures I buy from for my current gelding and the difference is like night and day!

http://www.eponashoe.com/

Here's an excellent diagram that shows you what and where the navicular bone is.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...

There is light at the end of the tunnel...Navicular is NOT the end of the world.