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HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Navicular Disease / Chronic Heel Pain SynDrOme »
  Discussion on Maybe Navicular
Author Message
Member:
kthorse

Posted on Sunday, Apr 1, 2007 - 4:20 pm:

Dr O,
Over the past 8-12 months or so I have posted about a few problems that I am now thinking might be related. One when my horse was severely lame with severe heel pain for about 2 months after a barefoot trim. The other when he stood with on an off bowed knees on and off for about a year. The other day I started lunging him getting him fit for the riding season. He was very stiff on the inside leading leg both directions more so to the left . He could not canter on the left lead. It looked like his shoulder. I don't think it was though. He is very sound to ride on the straight. He has problems with the steep inclines some days. Also Over the last few years with and without shoes he has had periods of short choppy strides. It has always gone away so I never paid too much attention to it. At the moment he feels 100% sound to ride on all terrain. I got extremely worried while lunging him as he was so stiff, and short strides. I read everything on Navicular and it really does sound like he could have it. I am not sure if its worth getting all the tests done when it is possible its inconclusive. His feet are trimmed every 4 weeks and he is not heel sore. He doesn't stand bowed any more. I am worried that the hours and hours of riding steep hills could have caused this. Do you think Navicular is possible because of the years of on and off choppiness in his gaits. The article makes me think it is. ?
Member:
kthorse

Posted on Sunday, Apr 1, 2007 - 5:15 pm:

Oh I forgot one more thing. When holding his back legs up for long periods he starts shaking. I thought it was his hips at first but now I am thinking the extra weight on the front legs when holding the back legs up might cause this. Is this possible. I am not too worried as he is very sound to ride after a 15 minute warm up. I just dont want to make it worse if this is what it is. Should I stop riding the hills? Thanks again.
Katrina
Member:
sunny66

Posted on Sunday, Apr 1, 2007 - 6:08 pm:

Hi Katrina,

I saw your post in my thread, so thought I would answer here..

As you have learned, it could be an innumerable amount of things that are going on. If I had to do it over again, I would go straight for the MRI, it will tell you everything, bone and soft tissue and will save you a lot of guessing. I've now spent so much money on my horse trying to figure him out, that it goes WAY beyond what it would have cost for an MRI.

Yes, Brave was off and on lame in 2004, I attributed it to his shoeing. Changed farriers, he got better for a while, had xrays taken in the summer I think and they said to watch for navicular but nothing substantial yet. Ha.

You can pick up on my "still a mystery" thread, not the part 2... under overview and diagnosis of hoof diseases. I started it in 2005 I think? It will give you detailed background.

If an mri is out of the question ($$$ and I completely understand that), I would not do hills with him for a while and see how he does. Do you ride him with boots? Do they help?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 2, 2007 - 7:47 am:

Hello Katrina,
I disagree with Aileen. If lameness returns you conduct the exam in an orderly manner beginning with accurate localization of the source of the pain, see Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Localizing Lameness in the Horse. This may eventually lead you to an MRI, but skipping steps in the diagnosis may cause missed easy early diagnosis. And in the case of difficult to see lesions, missed early steps create more ambiguous findings further downstream.
DrO
Member:
sunny66

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 3, 2007 - 12:12 pm:

Sorry for not being clear, I meant mri instead of xrays if the pain was in the hoof, not instead of localizing the source of the pain.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 4, 2007 - 8:46 am:

Aileen you should start with radiographs, they are an inexpensive, easily available method to diagnose many common ailments of the foot. If radiographs are inconclusive, then MRI should be contemplated.
DrO
Member:
sunny66

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 4, 2007 - 9:59 am:

Yes, I hear you Dr. O... in my case however, I wish I would have gone straight to the (standing) MRI...
Member:
dwinans

Posted on Thursday, Apr 5, 2007 - 1:54 pm:

Katrina,

I just posted under the article about my horse who had heel pain. Although I did xrays in 2003 I regret not doing them every 6 months to make sure he was improving. He would be off intermittently and I assumed he was ok when he was sound but I was still doing damage by not having him shod correctly. You can't tell what the bone angles are without xrays.

Xrays are worth every penny.
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