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  Discussion on Spurs in Navicular bone.
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Posted on Monday, Feb 7, 2000 - 9:51 am:

I've been shoeing this horse for years and for a
year or so his been off but comes out of it two or three days later and goes on like that for a month and that's more or less the cicle.
Recently the Vet, who is an excelent vet ,took
x-rays to find that the horse developed spurs in
the navicular bone. My question is beside egg-bars
or pads etc.. is there an alternative method of
shoeing for this condition? I now this is not much
info but right now the horse is been shod with
rolled-square toe and rim pad.

Posted on Monday, Feb 7, 2000 - 2:22 pm:

Hello Jaime: I will offer some information and my source is Adams' Lameness in Horses by Ted S. Stashak the 4th edition.
Marginal osteophytosis (spur formation) results from osseous metaplasia within the suspensory ligament of the navicular bone. Since this can occur in any ligamentous tissue at its insertion when it is put under stress, its significance must be closely evaluated, for in some cases it may represent a natural aging process. Corrective shoing consists of raising the heels by building them up, rolling the toe, and using a bar across the center one third of the frog. In addition, the branches of the shoe may be slippered from the quarters through the heels to aid the hoof wall in expansion. The slippering effect is done by tapering the branches of the shoe so that the wall will slide outward. The last nail should be just at the bend in the quarter; this allows the heels to expand. The rolled toe and raised heel aid quick breakover. The raised heel and bar across the frog protect the frog from ground pressure. The raised heel also helps to bring the hoof back to proper angulation and decrease the tension on deep digital flexor tendon. The slippered quarters and heels of the shoe allow expansion of the hoof wall. Rasping the quarters of the hoof wall or putting in vertical or parallel grooves on the quarters also aids foot expansion and helps overcome foot contraction. Rubber pads allow for cushioning of the foot and is effective in many cases in relieving pain. The pads can be reused if care is used when removing the shoe and pad.
I hope this has been helpful. Dr. Woodworth

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2000 - 12:45 am:

Thanks Dr.Woodwrth for taking of your time for me to have a better understandig of what I'm dealing with. Not saying that the Vet I'm working with
didn't explain but this info gives me a better
picture.
I forgot to mention that this hoof in particular is the highest in angle compare to it's opposite. Right front is in 52 dgrs., without pad, with pad and the shoe set a little behind the toe is 55. The left, the one with spurs in navy has a natural 56-57dgrs. Creates a little dilema for the raising of the heels.(Part of my doubt).

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2000 - 1:35 pm:

Hello All,
Jaime does the lameness block out to the heel region of the foot? Is the left hoof in good alignment with the pastern? Does the lameness worsen just prior to reshoeing or just after. How long is the shoeing cycle on this horse?
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2000 - 8:41 pm:

Hi! Yes it does block. The left hoof even thou is the highest is in alignment with the pastern. The right is using a 2dgr/wedge, but doesn't go lame after blocking left. It could be before or after when he goes lame. The shoeing cicle is 30 days.
The vet found that the navicular suspensory ligament was very irritated. He proceded today to inject the coffin joint.One interesting thing is that the day I shod the horse the hoof(left front) didn't react at all to the hoof tester but
I found that he was sensitive just between the cannon bone and the suspensory ligament proximal to the sesamoid.

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2000 - 11:11 am:

It is very odd, 2 or 3 days off then a month of soundnes. Something is exacerbating the problem just prior to the onset of lameness and your job is to identify what it is. You need to keep a small journal listing, days lame, exercise, turn out, shoeing, medication, ground conditions, and see if you can identify what is causing the recurrent nature.

Assuming the problen is in the navicular appartus somewhere these are techniques designed to ease pressure there: continue to shorten (roll) the toe as much as possible and then rocker the shoe to push breakover back to within an inch and a quarter of the very apex of the frog. Some would recommend the anterior aspects of the quarters be rockered also to make turning easier.

On the other hand if the problem is pressure from the sole wide web shoes and pads may be needed. I cannot differentiate the conditions from the information so far.

During times of lameness rest and antiinflammatories would be important.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2000 - 8:13 pm:

DrO, thanks for your conccern and input. I think I left some info, sometimes I think out loud but my hands won't follow. Beside square/rolled-toe shoe, the quarters are also rolled.Inner rim of shoe is concave and using rim pad. I saw the horse today 24 hours after coffin joint was injected, at a walk, and didn't look lame at all. Horse will be hand walked for at least a week, any change of excercise will be requested by the vet.Horse will be monitored on a daily basis.Both the vet and I have agreed that beside the spurs, part of the problem is that the horse is not getting enough warm-up before riding and the riding ring is to hard.More chips is been put into his bedding. So far he is responing well to the treatment and/or shoeing. Thanks again for all the info and for this site,is an excellent tool and support for those like me that cannot attend semminars or clinics as often I would like. Any changes on the horse behavior and or approach that the vet uses I will let you know.Thanks a lot, Jaime.

Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2000 - 7:19 am:

Hello Jaime,
Do you know the difference between a rockered shoe and a rolled toe, it may be one extra step you can take to further decrease strain on the foot during breakover, discuss it with your farrier and vet. Good Luck.
DrO

Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2000 - 11:50 pm:

Hi DrO. Sorry I didn't point out clearly but I am
the farrier and this horse belongs to one of my
customers. Yes I know the difference between rolled and rocker but at this moment the vet prefered rolled toes and not to start with very
agressive shoeing so we could upgrade into
more agressive shoeing methods progressivly and
have more alternatives depending how the horse accept or not whats been done to him to control his pain and return back to at least a ridable horse.
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