a 7 year old at the stables, named Spice, has navicular pretty bad. Normally we can ride him for 15 minutes without him being lame then he'll get lame (15 minutes including any standing in the arena time no riding just sitting on him), but I don't think any of us have tried just riding him and not just standing there..
Today I was riding him and he wasn't lame for the first part, but after I stopped for about 5 minutes, and then asked for a trot again, he was lame. So of course I got off of him and so on.
But I was wondering, if I kept on riding him with no break until I got off of him, would that make a difference? Would it be better for me to just keep riding?
navicular syndrome horses usually are on some sort of preventative maintenance for pain/circulation (bute, isoxuprine etc.) - i would advise against working one that is lame, but if he seems to be feeling "ok", i wouldn't see any reason to let him "rest". Does that make sense (??)
it depends on if he really has "navicular" or not, too. My ASB has small cysts in his navicular bone, which is not technically navicular, but we treat it very similarly
no if he's acting fine then I'll ride him, if he shows any sensitivity at all then I won't. he seemed fine, but then after sitting for a while turned out lame.
The BO said that his navicular bone looked like "swiss cheese" (her exact words)
Also another question, the navicular surgery...the farrier said that it only really lasted for 1 year...is that true? or is it a forever thing? (the cutting of the nerve surgery)
no if he's acting fine then I'll ride him, if he shows any sensitivity at all then I won't. he seemed fine, but then after sitting for a while turned out lame.
The BO said that his navicular bone looked like "swiss cheese" (her exact words)
Also another question, the navicular surgery...the farrier said that it only really lasted for 1 year...is that true? or is it a forever thing? (the cutting of the nerve surgery)
No. One gelding I know had the surgery done 5 years ago now, and is still going well. Of course he still has navicular, and has his good and bad days, but the good days certainly outnumber the bad at the moment.
Do some study on www.hoofrehab.com for starters, to learn what truely rehabilitative measures - rather than just palliative - you can take to improve this boy's soundness.
The surgery may make the horse appear comfortable, but continuing to work a nerved horse while not fixing the mechanical issues helps to speed up the degradation of the bone.
That being said, correcting the angles (lowering the heel to utilize the shock absorbing structures of the foot instead of raising the heel to cause numbness) can help slow or halt the damage being done internally. Once you get the foot set up the way it should be, exercise wouldn't be harmful and actually helpful.
One reason the upright heels doesn't work is the tendon rubs over the nav. bone is now tighter as the foot comes down, actually providing more crushing force on the bone (the nav. bone is just a fulcrum point for the tendon that attatches to the coffin bone) and usually the tendon itself is more damaged than the bone initially. Also, the back of the foot acts a a shock absorber because it's made of cartilage. Lifting the foot with high heels takes this out of the picture and now the tip of the coffin bone is jamming downward, prying at connective laminae (creating a founder of sorts) and one more intresting thing about raising the heels...if the back of the foot is used properly, the blood that is pumped by the act of taking a step actually helps to diffuse shock as well, research indicates it's a "hydraulic cushion" so the act of moving actually makes the foot feel better than standing around. but if your horse has jacked up heels, he's not getting full benefit.
Sorry to make this a long post, but nerved or not (I don't recommend nerving) the heels should be allowed to work normally. Nothing can repair the damaged bone, but the pain can be alleviated by a proper heel first landing.
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