I have a 8year old QH who might have navicular...the vet has done x-rays and blocks and he is not quite sure if it is navicular but wants to treat it as if it was. Right now he is getting bute and a joint supplement also flax seed in his food (it is supposed to be good for joints)...I am giving him light exercise right now making sure he keeps at a good weight. My farrier will be coming out soon to put special shoes on him...Is there anything else I could do to help him? what will the long term effects be? is it possible for him to be healed of this or at least maintain it to where it wont cause lameness? Thank you so much for any advice!!!

First thing, no - no - no shoes\\\\\. You will really do a lot of harm is you put any shoes or him and there is no such thing as special shoes, sorry. There are aberrant shoes, but not special. What was going on with your horse that you first began to think of navicular? I presume he is lame? pain in the heels? Was he working hard and a lot? Was it sudden or gradual?

It is true that even with x-rays, many many times, it is not possible to truly diagnose navicular syndrome . What is true about 99.9% of the time is that these horses have heels that are much too high and this throws the center of gravity too far forward instead of it being at the back of their foot where it should be. They land and walk on their toes because the weight is directly under the navicular bone. With this type of foot landing, the ligaments and tendons are over stretched repeatedly and become inflammed. The inflammation increases with time and as the tendons are drawn across the navicular area, the bone erodes as the body attempts to remove the unnatural pressure from both of these unnatural stresses. Once the bone has eroded, which could be seen on x-ray if it is fairly progressed or the inflammation is not so great that it really muddles the the picture, it cannot be corrected, it is permanent (the erosion which is bone loss). However, with a proper trim (and no shoes) I have never seen a navicular horse that could not be made comfortable and then recover. It can be a quick response or take a while, but it can be done. The horse can go sound with the first trim, or maybe a few trims later. This is not unusual (as previously believed in the past).

Not to criticize, but he can't take bute for too long due to side effects. If he needs long term meds dependent on what you finally decide to do, talk to your vet about giving him Previcox instead. All research allows for long term use without the side effects and it is quite affordable. A joint supplement will not heal this as this is not its nature. these are preventative in nature. It is too late for this now. Relative to the flax, as far as I know, flax is only helpful if the seeds are good quality and they have to be boiled to release the oil and then the oil removed from the seeds in this process has to be added to the feed to get the benefit. Oh well, enough about that.

I would love to be close enough to you to help you and your horse. Please dont be pushed into a severe or bazarr archaic methods that will make it worse for your horse, prolong an unnecessary painful recovery for your horse. Again, NO SHOES. If he is over tender, get him some easy bood epics with a gator while he heels. trust me, a good trim and some previcox and movement is all he needs with time to heal. All else would be overkill and harmful





Absolutely, you can help your horse but you will have to abandon traditional, old school, methods and try to find someone knowledgeable who will try to help your horse. He has to have a good trim. Please please do not let them resect his feet in anyway or Like I said, he could go completely sound with just a trim. Would he still need rest, yes and time or more healing. He needs turn out so he can move about as much as he feels like it, - good blood flow and hoof flexibility - good nerve flow. If his feet are hot, make buckets of ice water and ice his hot feet for 30minutes at time You dont even know if you have navicular. it is guess . Even the vet is not sure. Don't jump into something crazy or be talked into the "old school ways" that have now been repeatedly found to be outdated and wrong.

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All the horses I know with navicular eventually became too unsafe to ride. Every horse is different, and progresses at different speeds, so his days of being ridden safely are probably numbered. They can do things like 'nerve' the horse, which makes it so he can't feel his hoof, but it's not safe to do much with such a horse. Supplements probably won't help.

Most of the time you cant heal a navicular horse.

Onlynatural is absolutely correct and I would advise you to have a certified barefoot trimmer work with you on balancing your horse's hooves correctly. We know so much more about the causes of palmar foot pain now, which is the current terminology being used to replace the old language of navicular syndrome. If your horse has not been examined using ultrasound, I would also want that to look at the soft tissues and get a more accurate diagnosis of the exact condition. A great deal can be accomplished today with improved diagnostics and better treatment through barefoot trimming, and the prognosis is no longer the grave, cut and dried sentence to progressive lameness that it once was.

RN and 57 years with horses
Equine hoof research

My understanding of Navicular is that the navicular bone surface deteriorates where a tendon runs across it causing the tendon to tear slightly thus causing discomfort. This is not a curable condition, but you may be able to manage it with the help of a good farrier and vet team. It is possible that changing the angle of the hoof may allow the tendon to shift to a less damaged part of the bone and restore soundness temporarily, or your farrier may use oval shoes that support the heel bulb and perhaps build up pads beneath the shoes. You should be able to continue to use him without significant discomfort for some time, but every horse is different. I know mild cases that are very lame, and i know of a terribly advanced case that still jumps 3' courses at quarter horse shows. Good luck, and be sure to ask your vet and farrier lots of questions.

Advice? Get a trimmer in there who will lower his heels, get that frog on the ground to absorb pressure and dissipate shock, remove any mishapen and overgrown, folded bars. These things will help him ALOT. None of these things will occur if your farrier believes shoes will help him. Shoes will restrict blood flow and give him superficial comfort but will not lead to healing.

An 8 year old horse with navicular is another case of improper trimming and shoeing for far too long. Navicular has nothing to do with joints! If the vet is not sure this is navicular and the xrays show the bones are in proper position, proper trimming will help.

do NOT listen to onlynatural!!!!! horses with navicular need special shoes to help support the bones in their hooves. my trainer's brother, who is married to our farrier, has a horse that had really bad navicular. she put special shoes on him and trimmed him properly to treat navicular (your farrier will know how to trim and shoe a horse with navicular. make sure he has treated navicular before) and put him on stall rest with just light walking on a walker (i believe. i'm not sure if he was walked but i think so. your farrier and/or vet will know what is right for him) and he got better. her husband was able to rope on him again lightly. horses with navicular need constant treatment throughout their lives to make sure it doesn't get worse. you can maintain it but be aware that he will go through periods of lameness here and there since there is no true cure. it can be pretty costly to treat and you won't be able to do heavy work with him but you will be able to do some.

i hope this helps!

family breeds, trains, and shows cutting and barrel horses