Navicular Treatment - Part Two

Many hoses improve dramatically with good trimmer and / or shoeing. Each horse should be trimmed according to its own particular confirmation to allow the proper hoof angle. Some horses require hyper specific angles in each hoof to prevent long-term mechanical problems. Farriers will often square or roll the toes to ease break-over in stride. Corrective shoeing aligns the hoof-pastern axis to establish sound lateral to medial balance in the leg. Egg bar shoes are typically used to achieve good heel support. Recently, composite shoes have become a popular shoeing alternative for rehab in the Navicular horse. Composite shoes offer excellent overall freedom of movement, which allows the natural mechanics of the foot to work correctly again. Consult with your farrier about these shoeing options. In most scales the above treatments allows the horse with Navicular syndrome to live comfortably and return to a certain level of function. If therapy does not help, a neurectomy can be performed as a last result. Neurectomy is a drastic treatment in which the nerves to the Navicular area are cut to deaden the foot. Owners should know that this treatment is not without short and long term complications. These can be undetected foot abscesses, nail punctures, painful nodules on the cut nerve (neuromas), and even tendon rupture. There is also the tendency of the horse stumbling often because it cannot tell exactly where its feet are. Needless to say, this is not a solution for a performance horse. For further information on Navicular syndrome contact you farrier and equine veterinarian.

Navicular Treatment - Part One

Because there are several causes of Navicular syndrome, and some, which are still unknown, one treatment will not be effective in all cases. IT is critical to speak with you veterinarian and farrier about all the possible options for treatment. Generally, Navicular syndrome cannot be cured or reversed, but it can be successfully managed. Treatment goals are to reduce inflammation, remove pain from the soft tissue, increase pliability, increase blood supply, and align the hoof-pastern axis to improve the gait of the horse. This is accomplished with specific drugs, corrective shoeing, and controlled exercise. Bute is the most commonly used drug for not only Navicular syndrome, but any common symptoms of lameness in the horse. Bute reduces pain and inflammation, and is therefore effective in the short term. However, if a horse with Navicular syndrome is treated with bute only, and no other treatment measures are taken, the horse will be ruined. Injection with corticosteroid is also a common treatment. This is not a cure since steroids only reduce inflammation and pain and do nothing to correct the underlying pathology. As with bute, when used alone, steroids will lead to further harm. Increasing the circulation to the Navicular area is often effective in reducing the symptoms. Isoxsuprine hydrochloride, a drug that dilated the small blood vessels, is the most commonly used. This is a long-term course of the drug therapy, which can get expensive and time consuming. The anticoagulant warfarin is also used to increase local circulation. The horse must be watched carefully for the onset of bleeding problems since the drug reduces clotting in the entire body.

Three-time U. S. National Champion Arabian horse trainer, Cari Thompson, uses HOOF-it products to keep her horses sound and on top of their game.

Hello out there,

My name is Cari Thompson of Cari Thompson Training in Gardnerville, Nevada.

I have been using the HOOF-it acrylic product and the HOOF-it composite horseshoes on my Arabian show horses during training for about 5 years now. The composite horseshoes help relieve sore hooves as well as supporting bad hoof walls and contracted heels. They are also great to help support suspensory ligament damage and lay-ups and can even be used with toe weights to achieve better motion.

Because of the HOOF-it products, I have been able to keep my show horses going well when they perform in the show ring. In fact, I am happy to say that I was fortunate enough to take 2 of the Arabian show horses that have been in training in my barn to Championship wins in both the Open Arabian Hunter Pleasure and the Half-Arabian Hunter Pleasure Junior Horse classes at the U. S. Arabian National Horse Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in October of 2005. That was quite a thrill!

I want to personally thank HOOF-it Technologies for the wonderful products they provide and for all the help they have given me and my horses. We just couldn't do it without you!

Sincerely,

Cari Thompson