I have a horse that has navicular at 6 years old. I decided to give him time off while trying to rehab but now I have the option of moving on with another horse instead. I don’t know if he’ll ever return to soundness and even if he does, I don’t know if it will last forever and my hopes for this horse was to jump big sticks. I mean, I love him. I had big hopes for him. I want so badly for him to get better but should I cut my losses and get out now or take the chance with him?
Where will he go if you “cut your losses?” Is he sound now? Is it likely he’s going anywhere good for sale as a lame 6 year old? What have you done to try to manage the condition other than turn him out?
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It doesn’t sound like he will be useful for what you want. is it bad enough you think he should be PTS? Alternatively, do you know someone you trust enough to try to rehab him and change him to a sport that is easier on the front end? Getting him sound and doing a lease is probably the safest option for him.
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He’s at a friend’s barn just being a pasture ornament and he can stay there indefinitely. I tried the whole anti inflammatory feed regimen and boots with pads for turnout and some body work. This is not a case of poor hoof care, which most cases are imo, but from a posture induced chronic collapsed caudal structures cycle that probably needs a long time to fix. The body worker said there was nothing wrong with his front end. Just a clubby hoof. I could send him to a rehab facility but it’s that or move on. Thus my question.
I really feel for you! So tough when we are just trying to enjoy our one or two horses we can afford, work, pay our bills, etc.
Would you consider leasing for a year while you decide?
The practical economic decision is to get out now. Hard on the heart though. 
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If you really want useful feedback you’re going to need to give a more comprehensive picture of the situation. Has he had a real veterinary workup (or just “bodyworkers” and quasi veterinary persons)? What diagnostics have been done? Has he been evaluated by a teaching clinic or similar vs just piecemeal in the field? What was he doing pre-lameness/diagnosis? What is he capable of doing now? What is your goal? What is your skill level? What is your financial situation.
If he was me and I really liked this horse, I would haul him to the clinic and have a comprehensive workup done. Then I would ask for all the possible options for treatment. I would set in my mind a financial threshold and/or level of invasiveness I was comfortable with and I would do those treatments and then if he was not sound enough for any job, retire. If he was sound for a job, I would assess whether I would be happy doing that or whether it made more sense to lease him within network where I could keep an eye on him. I would not sell a lame horse, or a horse with no value.
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What vxf111 said.
Navicular is a weird disease. My 24 year old horse was diagnosed at 8. He is still competing in jumpers. My friends horse had navicular and was in significant pain if ridden at all. He was a pasture pet his whole life.
What shoeing has been tried? Have injections been tried? Have x-rays been taken? You say he’s on pasture, is he fat? (Some horses actually have mild laminitis but it gets diagnosed as navicular pain)
I’d be weary to retire a horse on what a body worker has said.
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I’m sorry you’re faced with this challenge. A horse can be a source of great joy… and also great heartbreak.
Some navicular issues respond quite well to managed care. But finding the right regimen, whether it’s Osphos, Equioxx or something else requires a full veterinary work-up and some trial and error.
Your use of the term “posture induced chronic collapsed caudal structures cycle” sounds like it came from the body worker or someplace like the Equine Documentalist. (Don’t ask how I stumbled onto that site). But sometimes navicular is wholly genetic and/or there’s a conformation fault that contributes to the problem. For example, you mention your horse has a clubby foot. While many, many club-footed horses have successful sport careers, some do not.
Since your horse is only 6 and already having soundness issues, he probably can’t be the jumper of your dreams, but perhaps he can have a useful life leased out to someone with more modest goals. If he can’t tolerate that job, you have your friend’s place as a retirement option.
You can move along to another horse, as disappointing as that may be. But first you have to figure out the best placement for this guy.
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Since the question is what would you do:
I would exhaust all reasonable vet work and farrier solutions that I could afford. Some examples of what I would explore with the vet: osphos, coffin joint injections (steroid, biologics), navicular bursa injections. I have an iron hoof pemf mat from Respond that I would use daily. If that did not work, I would leave him turned out barefoot for a few years and see if it got any better. Meanwhile, I would find another horse w better long term soundness prognosis to progress with. Depending how much I love this horse as a pet I would keep indefinitely if he didn’t come sound or euthanize if he was unsound and not particularly pleasant.
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6 is young. “indefinitely” is undefined. You should think about what might happen if that situation were to change and you needed to move him - what does the rest of his life with you really look like if you also have another horse in the mix?
It’s so tough to financially have two - what if something happens to the new horse and now you have 2 pasture ornaments?
I know these are really bleak questions, but in these situations you do need to think worst case.
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I had a horse that we did everything x 3. When he went lame on the 3rd reboot, I stopped. I turned him out. Kept him forever. Frankly I had a lot of peace just being done and accepting it was what it was.
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Has this horse even had radiographs?
A “body worker” making a diagnosis is practicing veterinary medicine without a license, and risks a board complaint in your state.
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I feel for you. I have one pasture sound right now but had to retire and I recently bought another horse to “chase my dreams” but it’s a financial burden to have two and something I had to really think about for a long time. I decided I was comfortable being a little broke, but it’s not possible for every one.
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Find him a great home with an easier life. 
Man if I had a nickel for every time I said what vxf said.
You need a systematic approach to finding the optimal solution. And if your dream is to jump big sticks, this will actually be valuable experience for you to learn. The road to jumping big jumps is littered with horse injuries. The more you can understand how to manage injuries and pre-existing conditions, the happier your horses horses will be and the more likely they will be to give generously towards your goals.
You absolutely can throw your hands in the air and decide it’s not worth the bother. @AAHunterGal is right, assuming a horse can stay indefinitely with a friend is not a long-term plan. These aren’t bleak questions, when you have horses, you have so much variability in costs every year, that’s the nature of the beast. That means in order to be a responsible horse owner who isn’t going to have to send their horses to an awful end in panic over money, you have to have a cushion of savings.
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