Navicular and riding??

sonnet

sonnet

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Sep 8, 2006
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I don't want to be too specific here but I was riding today at an RS and the horse I was on had navicular in both forelegs. Is it fair to ride a horse with this in both legs? I really know nothing about this so am interested but every time I halted he would hold up/rest his forelegs in turn, RI said to 'deal' with navi- does this mean it hurts him? He's fed bute every day (is that ok?) even though she said as he's so big 17hh+ it wouldn't do anything....?? Then why feed it? I felt harsh riding as I don't know about the condition and he does complex dressage movements (with other riders) but was doing lateral, collection and extension with me? in walk and trot??

Thanks in advance and sorry for the jumble of thoughts I just did another long thread and I'm tired! :o
 
you should NEVER ride a horse with navicular!!!:eek:

AN RS should know better than that!

The horse can just all of a sudden drop to the ground (not dead but their feet cause it)
it is really dangerous!

I would never ride that horse again if i were you!

I think that it does cause them pain, but not 100% sure.

But i know of a lady who rode her horse that had navi after being told about them dropping over and over again, and then one day he all of a sudden dropped and she is now paralised and in a wheel chair!

There is no law against riding them with navi, so you cant say or report anything, but still a RS should know WAAAY better than that!

But if i were you i would warn other students and never ride him again. Also i would pop in a word about why you wont ride him and a hint about the danger, hopefully they will take the hint!

Sorry to be the giver of bad news, but tohught that you had better know!!

Sorry xxx
kizza
 
Personally I wouldn't want to pay to ride a horse who had to be bute-d up for it, especially if they were resting forelegs as this is a sign of pain. Sammii on here has a horse with navicular, I think, so possibly ask her?
 
Navicular is basically pain in the foot. There are various ways of managing a horse with the condition / syndrome. If the horse is sound and comfortable on the surfaces it lives and works on, which it may be, then I don't personally see a major issue with it being ridden.

Navicular doesn't make horses fall over AFAIK, just makes them lame. Most of the time there's a problem with the foot balance and shape causing the problem, which can often be addressed by pulling the shoes and fixing the feet, so it doesn't have to be terminal.
 
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I've ridden a horse at a RS with navicular. He was always allowed to work in very slowly at the start of a lesson as he would be a bit short striding for a while, but after that you'd have never known there was a problem with him.

They said that as long as they took it steadily with him and controlled his workload, he was fine and it stopped him stiffening up too much.

I think, like a lot of conditions, it doesn't mean you have to write the horse off, it just means you have to be careful. As long as the work you do doesn't cause any additional problems, then it can be far more beneficial for the horse, both physically and mentally.
 
My friend had a horse that had navicular, she was told never to jump her again, but Kizzy being shocked and saying a horse should never be ridden with navicular to me is utter rubbish! I have known several horses in my time that have had navicular, one of them was de-nerved and in a RS, and he was fine (he had pads under his shoes in case of stones/sharp objects getting stuck as he wouldnt be able to feel them) With careful management these horses CAN be worked, so long as they still enjoy it, and it doesnt hurt them. In Sonnets case, thsi horse needs to be seen by a vet and or laid off, as it is clear he is in pain. Sonnet, do the horse a favour and speak out for him!
 
Work on a good surface as a schoolmaster is often a sensible option for good horses who can no longer compete but would hate to be field ornaments. If the horse is working willingly then it is obviously not in pain and like Ziggy and Yann said careful footcare and working in can enable them to have a long, happy useful life.

I would be a bit worried however if the horse was in enough pain to want to rest a leg but it may be this is more habit than pain as I really don't think a horse in this much pain could offer extension and collection.

I personally do not like the use of bute on a long term basis but do use herbal substitutes and occasional short courses for older horses who perhaps stiffen in damp weather..just as I sometimes take a painkiller if I am having a particulary stiff day.
 
my hunter had navicular.

he was a big boy at 17.2hh, but with a sympathetic farrier and loving care and attention to his work load, he continued to hunt. would never dream of denying the boy a day out and after a short course of bute and navilox, he was never lame or sorry again. would have driven him mad if he was never riden again, especially if he always seeing the hounds go out without him.
 
Symptoms
Heel pain is very common in horses with Navicular Syndrome. Lameness may begin as mild and intermittent, and progress to severe lameness. This may be due to strain and inflammation of the ligaments supporting the navicular bone, reduced blood flow and increased pressure within the hoof, damage to the navicular bursa or DDF tendon, or from cartilage erosion.

Symptomatic horses display a "tiptoe" gait - trying to walk on the toes due to heel pain. They may stumble frequently. The lameness may switch from one leg to another, and may not be consistent. Lameness usually occurs in both front feet, although one foot may be more sore than the other.

Lameness is usually mild (1-2 on a scale of 5). It can be made worse when the horse is worked on a hard surface or on a circle.

After several months of pain, the feet may begin to change shape, especially the foot that has been experiencing the most pain, which tends to become more upright and narrow.


[edit] Treatment and Prognosis for Navicular Syndrome
No single treatment works for all cases, probably due to the fact that there is no single cause for all Navicular Syndrome cases. The degenerative changes are usually quite advanced by the time the horse is consistently lame, and these changes are non-reversible. At this time, it is best to manage the condition and focus on alleviating the pain and slowing the progression of the degeneration.

The full article can be found on Navicular Disease - Wikipedia
 
Hi there,
Yann and Julz, I am sorry if I am wrong, but our navicular must be different to yours, because what i said was true, from what i have heard, so maybe i heard from an unreliable source...
Sorry if i p***ed you off
 
'navicular' is just a general diagnosis for something thats not right in the foot. i hack out a lovely little mare who was diagnosed with it 10 years ago, she is generally sound but occasionally has off days. doesn't do more thank hacking, nearly all at walk but its this that keeps her sound.

whether theyre ridable or not depends on the type and severity of the problem - its a bit like where there are arthritic changes, riding them can actually be beneficial.

the resting of the forlegs sounds worrying though, and the long term use of bute also makes me slightly uncomfortable - especially in relation to what you have said on your other thread.
 
aha, so i guess i am sort of right from what roofio said...
Maybe hers was a SEVERE problem... Her horse WAS constantly lame and maybe the lady i heard it off was talking of severe cases like that one that i know of!

I really hope that i am right, because otherwise i will be pondering what was wrong with that lady's horse to make it fall over like that..
 
Kizza07 said:
Im sorry if I p***ed you off... *goes back to lurk and sit in corner*
Click to expand...


You didnt p*** me off, now come out your corner and join in....

It IS possible however that the source you heard it from knew a horse where the lameness was so bad, in that particular horse, that the owner was told not to ride it again, but horses with nav, can and do lead a good ridden life!

Am sorry for getting your name wrong! :rolleyes:
 
OK im soooo glad that i didnt p*** you off!!:o
Its just that the way you wrote it made me cringe! lol

Perhaps you are right!!! Maybe the source was right but was right about a TERRIBLY BAD case!!:D

Im glad to hear that they can lead a good riddenn life!!! Because I know of one with navi.

thats ok about my name lol, kizzy sounds better anyway!!!:D
 
Incidently, I knew a girl who got a lovely wee pony when she was young, and after a couple years a vet diagnosed her with nav.... she had all the treatments going, egg-bar shoes, bute.... no jumping... all paid for out of her parents pocket, because the insurance company didnt believe the vet, and so wouldnt pay out.... 10 years later it turned out the Insurance had been correct, and it was discovered that this pony had NEVER had navicular... this poor pony had all the expensive shoes for nothing! and she had lost out on all that fun, with her pony..she is now too big to ride her, but still has her, and has a younger rider, jumping her, this pony loves, and has always loved jumping, but was denied it because a vet got it wrong!
 
It was only discovered after she changed vets, and the new vet wanted to asses the progression of the nav....only to find nothing wrong...
 
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