My 14hand quarter pony (hunter jumper) was diagnosed with 4 navicular cysts. Two in each leg. She had wedges and pads put on her horseshoes and lots of injections. She’s still not sounds after 4 months. Is there anything I can do? Or will it just be time for her to retire?
Hmm… I might be in the same boat. My guy was off Memorial Day, didn’t get better, blocked to RF, xrays show navicular cyst (which has been there a year without a soundness issue), we opted for ProStride, marginally better 30 days later, and now a navicular syndrome diagnosis.
It could also be a soft tissue injury as he was playing hard on hard ground, but I am reluctant to do an MRI (btdt with another horse), and rehab is the same.
So I am on the fence right now about OsPhos. Vet coming tomorrow to administer.
I know OsPhos will help create “temporary bone” but that same function also delays the creation of “real bone.” However I have read every thread on OsPhos and there seems to be a number of good reports. What I am not sure of is how “soundness” is actually happening so quickly?
Does the temporary bone quickly relieve pain? And then horses appear sound and go back to work at full capacity and later risk a reinjury because the temporary bone is not strong enough?
My guy is 14 years old, and I am primarily a trail rider, so I am not talking a return to performance. Would anyone hesitate about using it?
@Tied.In.Trainwreck many horses have cysts and are not lame, are you sure your lameness is not soft tissue? If it is a collateral/impar ligament, it takes many, many months to heal. One of my prior horses had that. She healed, but again, I am not a performance rider, so it was only tested on trails.
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I’m actually not sure it’s soft tissue, but ever since she got the injections she’s been even more lame. I’m not sure what to do! We’re a performance pair and I’d love to get her back in the show ring as she’s only 7 years old.
YMMV, but I have had Osphos and Tildren given to two of my horses in the last 6 years. I am not impressed and some of the recent research offers limitations for when it works.
You can do an MRI to get a better look at what’s wrong, and whether there is soft tissue involvement - which you can treat.
You can try Tildren or Osphos.
You can try injecting something different - Pro-Stride, Noltrex, etc.
Unfortunately, cysts that become symptomatic can be hard to manage.
When my horse turned up lame and the radiographs suggested navicular syndrome, I decided to go for the MRI. As it turned out, the main issue was a small tear in his DDFT. We never would have known! He did have some inflammation elsewhere in his foot as well. That was in December and we just started cantering under saddle and allowed him a larger turnout area. So far so good.
It hurts to pay a lot of money for something that doesnt cure anything, but it is important to know what you are dealing with.
@MsM I am not convinced it is just the cyst – I mean he has had it a year and was sound, it is still the same size. So I am open to the idea that it could be soft tissue. But I believe the rehab for anything the MRI will find will always be “time and bringing them back slowly?” And for my guy, I am ready to just give him time and do just that. If I could think of an instance where having the MRI led to a different rehab, I would reconsider.
Congrats on your guy coming back. My mare had a MCL tear and she came back, too.
Yep, if you are willing to treat it as some sort of tendon or ligament injury you could avoid the MRI. The key is really taking the time. One vet told me that he believes that a lot of the poor outcomes with"navicular horses" were due to treating it as a bone issue. People would do special shoeing and the horse would seem fine and would go back to work. The soft tissue damage wasn’t given time to heal and everything would worsen.
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I would agree with a lot of what was said here… my horse was diagnosed with navicular issues and treating it with special shoeing and injections over several
months (coffin joint and then navicular bursa) did not make him sound. When insurance said they’d cover an MRI - I jumped on it. It revealed a core lesion to the DDFT and the navicular bursa full of adhesions.
That was June 2018. He is now back jumping since May (2’3” has been our max) and is sound and happy. We did do Osphos to address Navicular issues, but he’s 17. I also did stem cell therapy, but shoeing changes (took us 3 changes to find the right set up for him over a few months) and a slow, steady rehab is what got me my horse back — along with luck being on my side.
@MsM : What a great observation from your vet about “navicular horses” poor outcomes and being put back to work too early. Maybe that seems obvious, but it clicks with me as very logical!!
I think the big difference with the MRI is the ability to target therapy. You can’t put in stem cells or IRAP if you don’t know exactly where you are going. Same with shockwave, although to a lesser extent. It you wouldn’t pursue those treatments anyway, then a conservative rest period (12 months+) followed by a soft tissue injury style rehab plan would probably do just as well without the MRI.
I’ve been scrolling through every article and possible discussion post for similar information.
I posted a while ago about my super fun time with my mare and what seems to be a worsening issue with a bone cyst on her coffin bone.
Two years ago injections brought her back to work, huge difference. Now, not so much. This spring i was actually riding her until she got tearing about randomly, why is still unknown but we are back to suspecting wasps, and re-aggravated the cyst as well as tearing muscles. She’s been heading downhill since.
So now I’m on this journey to the next steps. She’s so lame off bute YOU wince, sort of better on prevacox, and better enough on bute she think she should do some hijinks which is not helpful plus she can’t live on bute.
Yesterday we xrayed the crap out of her and blocked her very specifically on the pd. My farrier and vet were there together working. Both of them have been fighting this issue, and this bloody horse, for years. My vet didn’t like her soles being flatter and almost concave on the front left so we put 2% wedge pads on just to see. Hoof testers did show she was sensitive on the bulbs which COULD be a symptom of something in the navicular or just plain symptomatic. There is no change to the cyst at least, we had thought maybe she had created further damage.
Anyhow, I’m here looking at whether Osphos would actually be worth any further look.
I’m down to a few options and I’m not excited about a single one.
- So what I’m reading is mixed reviews on osphos and whether it really “helps” a horse with a bone cyst problem?
Yes I’ve considered that she has a ligament issue going on so time will tell me that but you’d think months of anti-inflammatories, icing, clay packs, and quiet would lend answer there? We haven’t ultra sounded but it seems so specifically right over the coffin joint.
-Since she blocked to the pd that makes her a candidate for a neurectomy. Which, has anyone done? I am not thinking I could afford 2k to drag an 18 year old horse to a clinic and do this though. This sounds expensive and dicey. If it works it sounds like she could be totally pain free for maybe three years or so before the nerve regrows. And, I am unclear if you could cut it again or what? Does scarring occur? Is it a one time thing?
-The last option is basically to just tightly manage her. Bring her home to my backyard like I’m already planning to do regardless and try to keep her from stomping, running about, or tripping around until I have to put her down. I suppose I could keep her on bute until winter when the cold ground comes, that seems to help her.
It’s worth mentioning I’ve not put her on stall rest because with the muscle tears she seemed worse confined, and she still seems stiffer and tighter after being in a stall for a couple hours. I had her on muscle relaxers and no change there. She also hates not having a job. I’ve had an offer to breed her cheaply. But, unless she’s actually sound and happy that seems a moot point.
