Posted by Patty Stiller on October 29, 2003 at 16:37:38:
In Reply to: Re: Lameness posted by Phil Armitage on October 29, 2003 at 07:44:25:
: : I just purchased a 2 year old. A couple of days after i got him home he started limping. The vet first thought it was epiphysitis..after about a month of treatment he was still not getting better. (I know it can take up to three months to get better from epiphysitis)The "leg/foot" specialist came out, examined and xrayed. He found a bipartite navicular bone. The breeder said that they Never knew the horse to have problems with lameness.. The trainer agreed with the breeder, they never knew the horse had any problems with lameness.
: : has anyone heard of this problem and if so what do we do. Of course, the breeder did not want to make the reverse transaction.
: Did anyone rule out the feet? Maybe there tender to hard ground. How does he move on soft ground? If you put shoes and pads on him and he moves better on hard ground and circles that might shed more light on wether he has the problems your vet thinks he has. Poor mans diagnoses, and simple. Since he is only two, I would work on picking up his feet so your farrier can do the job safely.
: Phil
:
A 'bipartate' navicular bone means literally the bone developed in two pieces instead of one. He was either born that way, or the bone develped incorrectly in his early months.
Is it possible he was on softer ground at his previous home, which may have masked the problem? Hard ground,with it's increased concussion to the foot and limb often reveals pathology previously undetected in softer ground.
You will have to discuss the progniosis for soundness with the vet. I have only seen a few of these over the years, and a couple did go on to be lightly ridden with special shoeing but from my experience with these few the potential for sound performance is very limited.
Patty