Re: Treating Navicular with TLC

Posted by Beth on May 14, 2003 at 16:47:46:

In Reply to: Re: Treating Navicular with TLC posted by Patty Stiller on May 14, 2003 at 13:21:28:

: : I have a young QH with early signs of Navicular. I've had him for 6 months and have been using corrective shoeing. I read in the barrel horse news about TLC nutrition and how it helps through nutrition to to refill the holes in the navicular bone. Has anyone ever heard of this and does it work?

: Although a balanced diet is imporant in maintaining helathy feet and bones, it is proper mechanical foot function which will heal the bone the best and restore soundness. The supplements alone will not help if all the structures in the foot are not set up in a manner to function optimally as they were designed.
: All too often "corrective" shoeing fails to address the hoof balance issues which causes the navicular pain in the first place.
: These are coffin joint alignment, frog functions and maintaining the narural breakover point for optimal ease in movement of the foot.
: It does not matter what pads, bar shoes, etc are placed upon the foot,nor what you feed if the foot is not trimmed and/or shod so that:
: 1) the heels of the foot are trimmed down very near (or to) the live sole plane,which moves the base of support rearward under the bone column and allows all the structures in the rear of the foot to operate more effeciently.
: 2) the shoe is accurately centered around the coffin bone, with the breakover placed according to the actual position of the bone within the foot. Some successful practitioners place the breakover directly under the tip of the bone, some slightly ahead of it, some right under the center of articulaion of the joint, but NEVER should it be farther ahead of the tip of the bone than 1/4".
: A breakover point any farther forward will place unnatural stress to the conective tissues around the navicular bone and to the coffin joint, all sources for the "early navicular" pain and eventual deterioration of the bone itself. That is one reason why many bar shoes or wedge shoes fail, because the toe is still way too far forward.
: 3) The frog and bars should be offered overall, even support in order to function corrctly in coffin bone support and coffin joint alignment, shock absorbtion, hoof expansion and circulation. Mant "corrective" shoes raise the outer hoof angle but forget the frog which in turn causes more problems later on.
: So discuss these specific issues with your veterinarian and if they ahave aledy been aevaluated and corrected, great you have an enlightened and up to date vet.
: If on the other hand he/she has not evaluated the shoeing for these items please ask that they do so with a set of radiographs set up sopecifically to check hoof balance and breakover point internally. There is a specific protcol for taking the films for this purpose, sometimes a little different than the films taken for diagnostics. The protocol is available in several vetrinary references as it has been published by Dr Barbara Page of Colorado as well as Dr Steve O'Grady.
: Patty
:

Thanks Patty,
I truely do appreciated the information. I did have xrays done when we first bought our horse, unfortunately it was after I bought him and a couple of days later he showed up lame. I bought him from this little old lady(she reminded me of my mother)told me she had him xrayed and he was purfectly sound...We road him on a couple of occasions and both times he was fine. I was too trusting and didn't get a prepurchase exam done. Well anyway, the vet came down blocked him and took quite a few xrays and determined he had slight abnormalities in the navicular bone. I do have aluminum eggbars on him, one with a degree pad because he has one heel lower than the other. It did make a big difference although he is a little tender on hard ground. I'm just trying to make sure that I cover all of the bases while its still early in the phases. My next step is to take him to a facilty where they can xray him with his shoes on to make sure he's balanced correctly. My blacksmith has agreed to come with me to discuss it with the vet. Hopefully all will go well.

Thanks
Beth

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: : : I have a young QH with early signs of Navicular. I've had him for 6 months and have been using corrective shoeing. I read in the barrel horse news about TLC nutrition and how it helps through nutrition to to refill the holes in the navicular bone. Has anyone ever heard of this and does it work? : : Although a balanced diet is imporant in maintaining helathy feet and bones, it is proper mechanical foot function which will heal the bone the best and restore soundness. The supplements alone will not help if all the structures in the foot are not set up in a manner to function optimally as they were designed. : : All too often "corrective" shoeing fails to address the hoof balance issues which causes the navicular pain in the first place. : : These are coffin joint alignment, frog functions and maintaining the narural breakover point for optimal ease in movement of the foot. : : It does not matter what pads, bar shoes, etc are placed upon the foot,nor what you feed if the foot is not trimmed and/or shod so that: : : 1) the heels of the foot are trimmed down very near (or to) the live sole plane,which moves the base of support rearward under the bone column and allows all the structures in the rear of the foot to operate more effeciently. : : 2) the shoe is accurately centered around the coffin bone, with the breakover placed according to the actual position of the bone within the foot. Some successful practitioners place the breakover directly under the tip of the bone, some slightly ahead of it, some right under the center of articulaion of the joint, but NEVER should it be farther ahead of the tip of the bone than 1/4". : : A breakover point any farther forward will place unnatural stress to the conective tissues around the navicular bone and to the coffin joint, all sources for the "early navicular" pain and eventual deterioration of the bone itself. That is one reason why many bar shoes or wedge shoes fail, because the toe is still way too far forward. : : 3) The frog and bars should be offered overall, even support in order to function corrctly in coffin bone support and coffin joint alignment, shock absorbtion, hoof expansion and circulation. Mant "corrective" shoes raise the outer hoof angle but forget the frog which in turn causes more problems later on. : : So discuss these specific issues with your veterinarian and if they ahave aledy been aevaluated and corrected, great you have an enlightened and up to date vet. : : If on the other hand he/she has not evaluated the shoeing for these items please ask that they do so with a set of radiographs set up sopecifically to check hoof balance and breakover point internally. There is a specific protcol for taking the films for this purpose, sometimes a little different than the films taken for diagnostics. The protocol is available in several vetrinary references as it has been published by Dr Barbara Page of Colorado as well as Dr Steve O'Grady. : : Patty : : : Thanks Patty, : I truely do appreciated the information. I did have xrays done when we first bought our horse, unfortunately it was after I bought him and a couple of days later he showed up lame. I bought him from this little old lady(she reminded me of my mother)told me she had him xrayed and he was purfectly sound...We road him on a couple of occasions and both times he was fine. I was too trusting and didn't get a prepurchase exam done. Well anyway, the vet came down blocked him and took quite a few xrays and determined he had slight abnormalities in the navicular bone. I do have aluminum eggbars on him, one with a degree pad because he has one heel lower than the other. It did make a big difference although he is a little tender on hard ground. I'm just trying to make sure that I cover all of the bases while its still early in the phases. My next step is to take him to a facilty where they can xray him with his shoes on to make sure he's balanced correctly. My blacksmith has agreed to come with me to discuss it with the vet. Hopefully all will go well. : Thanks : Beth

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