Posted by Patty Stiller on April 28, 2000 at 09:25:56:
In Reply to: navicular show horse posted by annie schack on April 26, 2000 at 17:59:11:
: I have a 16 year old show gelding, he goes English and Western, he has a navicular and I am having trouble finding a good farrier that does the NB system. He has been barefoot all winter, and is sound on different days. Then all of a sudden he's hurting again. I recently had him shod, and now he seems to be the worse ever. I am at a loss on what to do. I found out about the NB system and printed out alot of information on it and gave it to my farrier. Any suggestions? I now have him on isoxphrine, and a herbal medicine call no bute, to help with the discomfort. Thanks for your help.
You can try looking in the tech help section here in the website, and thee is a
farrier search
list by geographic area. These are farriers who either use the NBS products or have attended Gene's
clinics. The list is not an endorsement of farrier's particular skills, but is at least a start in finding someone who is familiar with the system.
As for helping your horse, talk to your vet about getting a fresh set of X rays right before the shoeing,. All you need are lateral views, taken with the shoes still on,. The KEY to the films is to have *both* feet up on 3-4" wood blocks at the same time, with the horse bearing weight evenly on both front feet, and the X ray beam parallell to the ground so there is a good view of 1)the coffin joint alignment in it's relationship with the poastern bone,and2) the angle of the BOTTOM of the coffin bone in relation to the ground, and 3) the breakover point of the shoe(wether that is a rocker toe or a NBS or just a plain 'set back' shoe, in relation to the tip of the cofin bone. That point should be 1/4" ahead of the tip of the bone, if you drew a vertical line on the picture athe tip of the bone. If any one of these factors is not correct, the shoe will not be too beneficial ,no matter what type or brand of shoe you use. Usually it is the breakover that is a surprise to the farrier on the X rays, and that may be why your horse is sore after a shoeing. The angle of the coffin joint may have been changed also. P2 and P3 MUST be lined up. So, if you can't find a NBS shoer, at least try to get help from the vet, to help the shoer you have with more information to use as a "map" in the shoeing. Patty