Horse IQ

If you’ve owned horses for even a few months, you’ve probably discovered just how smart they really are. They certainly let you know what they’re thinking and feeling. And they do it in some rather creative ways. But this ingenious behavior could be your horse’s way of warning you he has a serious hoof disease. And if you know the warning signs, you can catch this disease in its early stages…and save your horse from a lot of pain.

You go out to your horse’s stall and have a look around. Everything looks pretty ordinary. Nothing really out of place. Then you look take a long look at his bedding. You notice he’s been busy. He has pawed his bedding into small piles which he likes to stand on. He seems to have given himself some built-in elevation. Very clever, you think to yourself.

Clever, yes. But it should also raise a big red flag.

A horse who does this is, indeed, trying to elevate his own heels. But it isn’t for the purpose of appearing taller. He’s trying to take pressure off of his hoofs because they hurt. He may have something called Navicular Disease, sometimes called Navicular Syndrome.

Your horse’s navicular bone is located in his hoof. It’s immediately behind the coffin bone, and held in place by spongy fiber-osseus tissue (ligaments and tendons). It acts as a kind of shock absorber, relieving the concussion of a stride away from the coffin bone. It also acts as a valve, controlling the flow of blood to the coffin bone and corium inside the hoof. See below…

When you and I have a pain in the foot, we tend to favor it by limping. A horse with Navicular Disease will do pretty much the same, but in a different way. He’ll most likely shorten his stride, change his gait, or show a slight list (leaning to one side) when executing a turn. He does all this to take the pressure - and pain - off of his sore hoof. I’ve even seen some stand at rest with one leg extended, trying to balance with one toe.

There are several causes for this painful hoof condition. Poor hoof maintenance is certainly one. Horses that are confined or stall-kept are higher risk. NS is not hereditary, but there is some scientific proof that leads me to believe younger horses are at a greater risk than younger ones.

But nobody can really agree on how to treat NS. I’ve heard some vets say that you shouldn’t treat it - it’ll just fix itself. Again, I’m not a vet (yet), but if it were my horse and he’s in that kind of pain, I’m going to take some action. First, try all of the natural and non-drug solutions that make sense. That would include…

• Trimming his feet - should be doing this on a schedule, anyway
• Elevating his heel - he’s trying to do this with his bedding, but a farrier can do it by raising his heel, taking pressure off the flexor tendon.
• Round His Toe - this will help his foot roll into the next stride, taking even more pressure off the flexor

After that, check out some non-pharmaceutical supplements. There are some good ones out there, regardless of what the drug companies may say. Don’t get me wrong. Horse drugs have their place. But you should always try all of the non-drug routes to hoof health as possible before turning to drugs. Most veterinarians will respect your desire to shy away from drugs as much as possible. Just make sure your vet knows this.

But if these techniques still don’t relieve your horse’s pain, you’ll probably want to try Phenylbutazone, commonly referred to as “bute.” Bute is a class of drug called an NSAID (non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drug). Think of it as high-powered Advil for horses.

You can get bute either in pill or powder form, but the powder tends to work faster, I’ve found. We us it at horse shows if one of our horses is sore and needs it to get through an upcoming event, but only as a short-term fix. I wouldn’t recommend an NSAID alone as a long term strategy for overcoming Navicular Disease. There are too many undesirable side effects.

And, as always, consult your equine veterinarian when treating any kind of serious horse health issue.

Knowing the signs of Navicular Disease gives you an advantage. If you can catch horse diseases in their early stages, your’re in a much better position to stop it before it does any serious damage. So put these tips into practice in your barn. The benefit to you will be a healthier horse who’s always ready to ride.

Yours to Better Horse Health,

Sierra Lynch

Tags: Hoof Care, Horse Diseases

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