My mare was diagnosed with ND last fall. After a show last spring where she was swapping leads quite a bit and drifting off to one side (was never lame though) I had the vet out to do flexions and examine her. Only thing that showed up was positive to the hoof testers, so was diagnosed at that time with “caudal heel pain.” Vet wanted to try Osphos as she felt she was a good candidate. She was also put on Previcox. I didn’t feel like the Previcox did anything, so took her off after a few weeks. While I’ve had her she has always had a leather rim pad to help lift her heel, so the farrier continued that and added EquiPak, which definitely made her more comfortable. Last fall she came up 3/5 lame on her right front. Vet did X-rays and confirmed navicular bone degeneration in both front feet and worse in the right front. Did another round of Osphos and gave her 6 weeks off as it was the end of show season and I was going to give her time off anyway. She was sound after about 4 weeks of rest, but often felt like she was moving like a cart pony - quite choppy and I didn’t have much step. Vet also suggested bar shoes, which we tried however I didn’t feel like they made a difference from her regular shoes, maybe slight, but not much. My farrier was also very concerned she would pull one off as she is a jumper, so he decided to try an “onion shoe.” Wow what a difference! I suddenly had more step and she was moving way better. Plus she started landing on the right lead after a jump, before she would ALWAYS land left. So now she has the onion shoes, leather rim pad, and the EquiPak. She is also on Omega Alpha Anti-Flam, which is a daily anti-inflammatory (it’s mostly MSM with some Chinese herbs). I like it because it is not hard on their stomachs like previcox or bute, so it’s ideal for long term use. I’m going to do the Osphos again this month as it’s been 6 months since the last dose and we are heading into show season. Hoping this combo of shoeing/Osphos/Anti-Flam keeps her happy for a while. I’d be interested in doing new X-rays again in the fall to see if there are any changes/if the Osphos is doing anything.
I have a 14 Quarter gelding who was first diagnosed th navicular disease four years ago. He is an appendix, world champion halter sire (who has sired great performance and halter horses out of a thoroughbred mare. He is 16’2 and has points in seven events at AQHA shows plus halter superiors, top ten at the AQHA world show and Congress. His flying changes are effortless. Osphos injections along with a great farrier have made an incredible difference. I’ve done them for the last three springs. You need a great lameness vet, preferably one who works with a good farrier.
Thanks for all of the stories, guys! So my vet and farrier talked this weekend and we have decided on a few avenues of treatment starting with shoeing.
First option is to pull the 3 degree shoe he is in now (“Trac Me” which is a wide web wedge shoe) and leave him barefoot for a cycle. Remember he actually got worse with this set up, prior to this he was in a regular steel shoe and was lame at the trot, now he is off at the walk. The thought behind this is because he was worse with the wedge maybe this would benefit him?
Second option is take the wedge off and put a bar shoe with pour on pads on. The thought here is it will give him relief from what the wedge has done and save his soles. However, we are concerned this may crush his heals.
Third option is to jack up his heals another 3 degrees and see what that does. This option scares me as he already hated the 3 degrees we had him at with the “trac me” so I fear this will only exasperate the pain further. And if we go this route then we have to bring him back down slowly, so if he hates it it is not like we can just pull the shoes off, once he is wedged up that far he will have to come back down slowly which will take a few cycles.
At this point we are going to try shoeing as a method of making him comfortable and then go from there. I do not have the funds to do an MRI, unfortunately. My thought is to start with him barefoot, move to option 2 if that doesn’t work and then through the moon at him with option 3. What do you guys think? One thing I gathered from all of your stories is that this seems to be a long process with no overnight or quick fixes. I have never had a horse with Navicular so this has been a learning experience for sure! I wish I hit the Lotto so I could do all of the injections and other drugs available, but right now I simply do not have mounds of extra cash lying around to throw at this 
and that is super frustrating for me as well!
@Palm Beach my farrier made the shoe himself. It’s similar to that one, but not quite so wide and doesn’t have the ruffling at the toe.
I think your first option letting him be for a cycle is smart i had to do that after a farrier jacked my horse 3 degrees without telling me he was lame at the walk and didn’t want to move in the pasture. Trying to get some foot to work with is a good first step and then if your farrier can do a wedge pour in maybe even on just the one foot that would benefit him. I know a 5 week cycle with corrective shoes is hard on your checkbook but if it makes the horse happy you will be a happier person as well. I was unable to do an MRI as well but I think it is really awesome your vet and farrier are working together on him and will hopefully get a positive reaction. Hoping this helps your boy
Wondering if anyone has ever tried steel pads for navicular issues? My TB has a bruised Navicular bone and it is taking forever to heal. My ferrior mentioned using an aluminum plate in place of a leather pad to protect the bruise, has anyone ever done this before? He had an injection 5 weeks ago of osphos, I am not sure it is doing much so kind of want to try the steel pad. Please let me know your thoughts about foot bone bruises and ideals in how to help it heal quickly and make a full recovery. Thanks
Bone bruises in general can take up to 6 months to heal, depending on the severity. What diagnostics did you do to get the diagnosis of bone bruise? I’m not understanding how a steel pad would protect the navicular bone bruise since it’s at the heel and not at the bottom of the foot. Osphos can take up to 60 days to be effective, but if you are waiting for a bone bruise to heal, you may just need to wait it out. You can get a wedged bar shoe with a frog relief cut out that supports the heel but doesn’t put pressure on that area.
I sorta have a horse with NS. 15 hand horse barefoot with size 2 feet suddenly lame. Vet blocked and he was better but not sound Xrays showed some changes in navicular so vet thought it was NS. I decided to go for a standing MRI since his presentation was unusual. That found no significant problem with the navicular bone other than edema. However there was a small lesion on the DDFT at the insertion to the coffin. Also found some other edema in both fronts.
I did do Osphos. Although he was actually moving pretty sound by the time he had the MRI, we did two weeks of Previcox for the inflammation. He was shod in New Balance shoes with a frog support pad that has a 2 degree wedge. Now he is on stall/small paddock rest for several months followed by a slow rehab.
I asked the Big Clinic about the findings. They felt the DDFT was likely a bad step injury. The other inflammation may be how NS starts, but its hard to say as using MRI is fairly recent. They theorized that though his feet looked great according to most measurements, the structures inside just needed a different angle and support. They were quite encouraging that we could keep him sound for many more years. They also felt that some NS horses also had soft tissue injuries in the foot. Without an MRI they are often put back into work too soon, worsening the problem.
So if I didnt have the MRI info, I would probably advise a layup as if it is a soft tissue injury anyway once you get him comfortable.
NS does not always involve contracted heel. It has been seen to appear as a result of a sudden abrupt bruising or wrenching incident. Both horses were well balanced. Both horses were treated by angle changes and/or bar shoes, and rest. The rest was extended.
My friend finally did an mri on her qh with navicular (degree shoes were helping, fyi). The mri showed that in fact the navicular bone was in perfect shape, but there was a small fracture in the coffin joint. It never showed up in xrays. Now they have more options than they did before, plus they know what they’re dealing with.
I had an 8 year old QH mare that was having lameness issues. Tried shoes with pads and magic cushion, which helped for a couple of months. Then went to vet to investigate further. Radiographs showed navicular with degeneration (moderate) in both fronts with one side being worse than the other. At that point, we opted to try Osphos and apply wedged shoes with pour ins. No change in lameness, at least for riding, but we can tell the shoeing change helped because the body worker noticed that her opposing shoulder was bulging from trying to compensate and after the shoeing changes, that bulging had receded. I fed circulation supplements also, but her lameness never improved enough for riding. In fact, from having been compensating, she injured something in the hind leg on the opposite side of her worse front foot. So, long story short, I went down to the lameness expert and got him to recheck her. He admitted that her lameness on the fronts was 50% improved after the Osphos and shoeing changes, but that the new injuries caused by the compensation were not worth pursuing. (This horse happened to not be insured–of course, and she also happened to be a great performer, but unregistered). The vet recommended, given all of the available limitations, that it was going to become too financially consuming and the expense would not be worth it. We found a wonderful veterinary facility that was willing to take her as a recipient mare. She got pregnant within the first 30 days and now she raises wonderful, expensive, babies for others, while remaining managed by the vet center. Now, had she been registered, or insured at least, I would have been more aggressive, but sometimes we are limited by making smart financial decisions.
