How I Manage My Mare's Navicular Disease

My mare’s, Real Slick Chick (Sally), professional career was based around team penning, working cow horse, and reining. Over the years, Sally’s limp from Navicular disease on her front right leg has gotten worse. Navicular disease is defined as the deterioration of the navicular bone which is the inside of the horse’s inner hoof. “The primary function of the navicular bone is to provide a gliding surface at the point where the deep digital flexor tendon changes angle; the tendon courses down the back of the cannon bone and bends around the back of the fetlock, between the proximal sesamoid bones, then makes a sharper bend over the navicular bone, and attaches on the bottom of the coffin bone. (thehorse.com)”

So what happened to my mare that caused her to get a navicular disease? Well, some believe navicular is genetic. In other words, someone in her genealogy could have had the disease and passed it down to her. Another logical reason is that the bone was worn away into scar tissue due to Sally being an athlete. Any athlete, both human and animal, will walk away with some physical deterioration, like an injury or arthritis. It’s not shocking that Sally walked away from her career worn in a couple of places.

MRI image of Sally's foot below that was taken at Wisconsin Equine.

We have done many different things in order to help the bone grow back, but nothing worked. One operation we did was draw blood from her neck and the equine clinic then boiled it down to a paste. From there, it was injected into her navicular area. Another common operation that is done is cutting the nerves. This allows the horse to move without feeling the pain, but the nerves will eventually grow back. It’s a very controversial way of handling navicular disease due to the fact that horse might damage its leg more. Sally was not eligible for this due to her being too high strung. Sally not feeling pain means she would stress her body more do to having too much go and not enough whoa.

In order to keep Sally happy and healthy, we have her on minerals, vitamins, and other powered formulas that get mixed into her grian to help her tendons and movements. The minerals support her digestive system and help her with processing foods and distributing energy. I also have her on a powder that supports her tendons and muscles. This helps to keep her flexibility, movement, and healthy tendons in tact. I also work her light and take more time warming her up before I ask her to do anything too strenuous. When we do work cows or go for long rides down the road, I give her Bute, Ibuprofen for horses. This helps relieve the pain and enables her to have some fun and do what she loves.

My mare has a lot of go and energy even at 22 years old. She hates to sit around and not have anything to do or think about so the occasional butte and adventure makes her very happy. By working with an horse that has a perimite injury I have learn how to prevent injuries in future horses and ways to help maintain the health of an injured horses.

Resources:

• Navicular Problems: Symptoms and Treatment