[shenanigans]

So Whitey was diagnosed with Navicular last month, after going over things with my vet we decided to try him in Rockers/pads & silicone filling.
I just wanted some input from those of you that have had experience with using/applying & any advice or thoughts you may have.

*sorry he was playing in the mud









The ground is a tad bit uneven but not too bad, they were put on April 25th & he went from laying down & moving very little to playing in the pasture & occasionally light riding.
His breakover is improved & his attitude is so much better.

[JBandRio]

How was the diagnosis made? Do you have xrays?

Just know that wedge heels may cause more problems in the long run, depending on how the whole hoof is maintained.

[kaitlyndzn]

my horse has navicular and we use egg but shows...the ones that look like O's. He still as spunky as ever and i ride him daily. Ive never had a problem with them, but i believe when he was first diagnosed they used rockers and he kept coming up lame...but each horse is different

how is your ferrier? has he had much experience with navicular? did he have any input?...

did you get xrays done? and do you know to what extent the navicular is? i hope i helped a little...glad your horse is feeling better

[paintlver]

I have had several horses with navicular and never had to resort to rockers . You will have to be very careful as these shoes can be pulled off very easily in mud. The shoes are very easily ripped off and care has to be taken that the horse never over reaches or gets in deep mud. Good luck..I had my horse on MSN and Glucosamine and it made a huge difference in him ..

[Moostang]

I have a question since this was brought up.. isn't the rocker shoe designed to move the breakover and encourage a heel first landing instead of a toe first, relieving the nav pain.. or is my understanding wrong?

[Emma lvs tilly]

they look drastic! was it a bad case he has?
although saying case, i mean what did the vet tell you it was. vet lable any problem with the navicular bone 'navicular syndrome' but what does he actually have wrong.
for example my horse had 'navicular' his case was that the navicular bone had moved slightly, slowing the blood flow to his foot. i too used egg bars as directed to by my vet. however i could not get my head aroung the fact that putting something so un-natural on a foot would help it function naturally? dont get it. therefore i took off the shoes and allowed him to go barefoot (a horses foot is its own natural pump for blood when it contracts with the groung) i gave him a long long holiday along with a really good supplement to thin his blood and devilsclaw and he was fine.
just how do theses strange looking things on his feet help him?? confused?

[shenanigans]

JBandRio, we did exrays, hoof testers & froze that along with his history & symptoms was how my vet came to the conclusion.
Can you explain to me how it may cause more issues in the long run just so I am prepared? His feet are maintained by this farrier much better, in the past I kept him on a 6 week schedule but had problems replacing the 1st farrier I had when I moved.


Kaitlyndzn we actually discused egg bars & a number of other alternatives but we felt we would try him with the rockers.
My farrier is awesome & {worked as a vets assistant with a bos degree} for a number of years.
He does a really nice job, before Whitey even had the shoes on he trimmed & balanced his feet up beautifully!
The extent of the navicular is that he has some changes to his navicular bone, along with pulling of his deep digital flexor before he put the shoes on his tendons hadnt been clean & tight in awhile always had mushy legs the past few months.
After the shoes his legs tigtened up nice & came back, he didnt take to long to adjust at all.
Initially he still had a slight bob when he walked, but hes about 85% now.

Thank you both for your input!

[shenanigans]

Gee, thanks everyone for your suggestions & questions. I will see if I can start this with a little more info...
Whitey is 15 yrs old, he is a big horse at 17hh & around 1600 pounds. He has had bouts of unsoundness off & on to varying degrees for 4 years.
We never seemed to be able to get to the root causes.
He was a working horse for those 4 years, being ridden most everyday, for hours at a time as I used to lead trail rides for a living.
The vet I had been using {my bosses} at that time could not find an answer as to why his lameness & head bobbing came & went and the farrier {before I owned him} was a one trim fits all type of guy. When I bought Whitey I had a new farrier work on him & he brought his feet around nicely, rolling back some toe & improved balance.
I semi retired him after leaving that job back 2006 & his issues continued plaguing him off & on. It took m sometime to get a reliable farrier at our new barn because it had just recently opened up & we went through alot of farrier/vet issues while becomming more known in the area.

Finally in Decemeber after Whitey had a bad spill in the pasture in the snow I brought in "my vet" that I had used years ago with my other horses. We went through a number of tests & consults & retests to be sure before the diagnosis.
I dont believe in this case it is a blanket diagnosis & I feel fairly secure that it is the correct one.
The rockers have in fact changed his breakover & he is at this time feeling very good & much like his old self again.
He is a pleasure horse only, no competing, no speed just trails.
Whitey does enjoy playing in the mud often, I mean ALOT...so we keep a good eye on how secure the shoes are on him.
My farrier is only about 10 minutes from my barn & my vet {though hes quite busy} is 20 minutes away.
We have also discussed getting him on a joint supplement I maybe wrong but Corta flx RX with devils claw & yucca...
anyway thats our story & thanks for and info you can pass on that you may feel is important.

****I have a question since this was brought up.. isn't the rocker shoe designed to move the breakover and encourage a heel first landing instead of a toe first, relieving the nav pain.. or is my understanding wrong?

That is my understanding from what my vet explained.


Lorna

[Lopinslow]

it sounds like you are on the right track! have you done a bursa injection yet?

I have a gelding with it in one foot ( trauma caused ) and he wore the same type of shoe all last year. ( mine was nerved last spring, and developered neuromas so he had those removed in January )

here is an article that my vet wrote, that i found pretty helpful when he was first diagnosed. I will say, when dealing with navicular, a great vet and farrier are KEY! I am SO thankful to have a vet that is a nationally known specialist in this disease just 40 miles from my house!!

Dr. Tracy Turner of the University of Minnesota gave a thorough presentation at the AFA Convention in Lexington on diagnosing and treating palmar foot pain in horses. Dr. Turner has found that more than one third of all chronically lame horses fall into this navicular syndrome category."
We must change the idea that A + B = C. Let's see what is wrong and where the pain is coming from." Heel pain can be kind of a puzzle. By adding up many clues, we can get a more specific diagnosis and treatment.

Rather than lump all palmar pain into one category, Dr. Turner broke navicular pain down into five "foot pain groups." Navicular region pain (coffin joint and bursa), about 50% of the horses. Coffin joint but not bursa pain, 10-15%.
The causes of pain include calcification of ligament or bone (caused by torque or stress), several types of bony changes or holes in the bone causing it to lose dynamics, hoof capsule/bony column orientation, medial/lateral balance, and damaged joint surfaces. Treatment
Although the treatment of navicular syndrome is as controversial as any other aspect of the disease, Dr. Turner found that correct shoeing is the basis of all treatment. Yet, not all horses should be shod or addressed the same, but need to be assessed individually on a case-by-case evaluation rather than a standard formula.
When shoeing corrections are made within the first ten months of lameness, there is up to a 96% chance of success. The longer corrections are forestalled, the slimmer the success rate. When shoeing changes are not made until after one year, the chance of success drops to 56%.
Shoeing considerations include:
1) Correct any pre-existing problems of the hoof, such as under-run heels, contracted heels, sheared heels, mismatched hoof angles, broken hoof/pastern axis.
2) Use all weight bearing structures of the foot
3) Allow for hoof expansion
4) Decrease the work of moving the foot.
Other therapies may include injections into the coffin joint, the use of drugs to increase circulation (such as Isoxsuprine) some surgical treatments and at last resort, nerve blocking. Good farriery is the foundation of navicular syndrome therapy. It is important to really look at the foot and how it is shaped, how it sits on the end of the leg. Watch how the foot lands and moves, and come up with a shoeing program that best supports the needs of that particular horse

[kaitlyndzn]

Im glad to hear that these shoes are working and that you have discussed it with your vet and farrier...i do hope your horse gets even closer to 100%!!! good luck with the process!!