Getting Conversant With Navicular Disease

By Francis Riggs


Navicular syndrome affects horses. It is characterized by degeneration or inflammation of navicular bone of the animal. The tissues surrounding the bone at the front of the feet may be involved too. The resulting lameness due to navicular disease is significant and may be debilitating at times.

The contributory specs in its occurrence are diet, activity, conformation and genetics. Therefore, it is expected that horses taking part in competitive exercises or disciplines have a higher chance to suffer from this disintegration syndrome compared to their counterparts used in recreation or even sedentary undertakings.

The indicators that an animal is suffering from the condition include increased pressure and decreased blood flow within the affected hoof because of strain. Also inflammation of navicular bone supporting ligaments contributes to this. Heel pain commonly occurs in the affected animal and the lameness may be mild at the beginning but later progress becoming severe.

In an effort to transfer weight onto the toes, animals suffering from this disease usually land on their toes rather than the heel. Stumbling or loss of coordination may be observed too. The lameness can be seen in both feet but sometimes may be switching from leg to leg periodically from overcompensation. The pattern of occurrence may not be consistent.

The lameness is usually evident when the animal is worked in circles or on a surface that is hard. If the disease progresses for several weeks, the shape of feet may begin changing. This is more often evident in the most affected foot. It takes a more upright shape and also becomes narrow.

Traditional methods available to manage this syndrome deal with relieving the symptoms temporarily. They therefore are not effective in reversal or halting deteriorative effects of the disease. They do not result to structural progress either. The focus is on increase of the animal comfort level and coping ability in the short term. However the physiological level of condition continues to progress.

For horses with bone complications, equi-bone is fed in order to up nutrients for bone building in the body. With time, nutrient balance as a result of feeding on equi-bone helps in manipulation of body to store more calcium mineral in bones. The result of this is improvement of mineral density of bones. This makes the affected bone more strong and decreases its sensitivity as it goes through the process of rebuilding. While transiting from a degenerative diagnosis or an injury, the horse is fed at the calculated loading rate at least for five months. Then this is reduced to a maintenance protocol which provides for support of healthy conditions of bone.

The success achieved from equi-bone supplementation during the five month period should be maintained. If the horse is left to go on with the remodeling process by itself then it may be improperly done. Supplementation therefore enhances the horse ability consistently and therefore the likelihood of disease redevelopment is minimized. The supplement is fed at a rate of one scoop, 2 times a day. This is what is termed maintenance therapy. It ensures for good health and soundness of the animal.




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