Detect And Treat Navicular Syndrome

By Enid Hinton


A horse suffering from navicular confuses the owner leading to neglect because he does not understand the problem. The location of this bone by experts and veterinarians has helped in fixing the navicular syndrome. The problem is likely to worsen if no action is taken. This will reduce the competitiveness of your horse as well as its lifespan.

Treatment can only commence if the condition is detected early enough. Each case requires particular attention depending on the extent of infection. The condition is likely to be aggravated by the position of navicular bone. It is the surrounding soft tissues that make this condition extremely painful.

The distal bone and surrounding tissues wear out because of constant motion. This happens as the horse changes positions while in motion. The forward and backward bending of the hoof during motion eats away the tendons causing extensive damage and a lot of pain.

The pain between the toes results from worn-out tendons and bones. The cause of pain may be other conditions around the hoof and not the navicular disease. This calls for confirmatory tests to be certain when administering treatment. Some horses are injured during training, normal walks or racing. Inflammation and injuries are likely to affect performance horses.

There are breeds with more cases than others because of their disposition. They include Warm Bloods, Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. There are more cases reported of these breeds than others. In most of these cases, the horses were aged between 7 and 14 years.

The factors that predispose horses to the caudal heel pain include a conformation abnormality on the hoof, broken backward or forward hoof axis as well as under run heels. Contracted and sheared heels also expose the horses to this condition. Horses with disproportionately small hoofs and mismatched hoof angles are also prone to this condition.

The signs of lameness are detected on one hoof before spreading to the other. The variation arises because the degree of infection varies. The horse makes shorter strides and is likely to swap legs at a corner or a tight angle. The lame leg will always be on the inside.

The style of landing will also tell you if your horse is sick. The normal landing pattern is from heel to toe. A sick horse will land from toe-to-heel. The best way to spot lameness is to record the horse in motion and later observe the video in slow motion.

Diagnosis is carried out using the wedge and frog pressure tests. These tests involve exerting pressure between the toes of the horse and trotting it for a while. In case of an inflammation, lameness gets severe with time. Since other conditions may give similar clinical signs, other confirmatory tests are carried out.

The veterinarian may opt for aggressive or conservative treatment depending on severity of the hoof. It is important to restore balance but this should be done gradually. Shoeing helps to reduce uncertain ground contact and gradually restore balance. The veterinarian may use anti-inflammation drugs. Un-nerving of hooves is done through surgery.




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