One of the most common diseases in horses is caused by degeneration of the navicular bone. The resultant disease is known as caudal heel pain or Navicular syndrome. A horse may develop a significant and even disabling lameness as a result of its degeneration and associated inflammation. A horse, however, has better chances of recovery if the disease is diagnosed early and treated.
To diagnose the disease early, horsemen should watch out for particular signs or symptoms. One of the signs is how the horse rests its weight while walking. A horse sick from caudal heel pain will rest its weight on the toe as it tries to avoid the painful and inflamed heel. It will also take longer to stop the stride while walking due to pressure on this toe.
Another sign to look out for is whether the pony shifts its weight from time to time while standing. If the pony is sick of caudal heel pain, it will continually shift weight in an effort to remove pressure from the heel and relieve the pain. The continuous shifting of weight causes the shoulders to grow lame and the gait to become rough. In addition, the horse will walk demonstrating lameness which gets better only after resting.
When these symptoms are observed, a veterinary doctor should be contacted. Veterinarians are equipped with the right tools for diagnosis of the caudal heel pain. Among these tools include hoof testers which apply pressure over the frog area. If the area is inflamed, the pressure from the hoof tester produces pain causing the pony to flinch.
Veterinary doctors may also use a local anesthesia to know whether this pain is responsible for the lameness in your horse. The anesthesia relieves pain in the inflamed area for a while through cutting off the nerve supply in the area. When pain is relieved, the horse walks normally, that is if the lameness was caused by the syndrome. If otherwise, the horse continues to be lame even after the anesthesia.
So what treatment options are available? There are several treatment options for this pain which range from conservation to aggressive. They include the use of medication, therapeutic shoeing and surgery. The response to treatment is unpredictable and therefore, it is more effective to work gradually up from the conservative options to the most drastic. If one works better than the other, the pony will give a positive response.
To relieve pressure and consequently pain, therapeutic shoeing is used. Vasodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed to relieve pain and increase blood flow to the affected area respectively. The most common treatment option is surgery. A surgeon cuts off the nerve endings at the back of the foot so that the pony does not feel pain anymore. However, the nerves may grow back and therefore the solution remains viable for only 3 to five years.
It is hard to say which breeds are most affected but thoroughbreds and warm-bloods seem to have the highest incidence of caudal heel pain. On the other hand, the Arabian breed is rarely affected. Even though the disease does not always spell a desired outcome after infection, diagnosing it early enough and subsequent treatment helps the horse. The pony also gets back to its service fully, if luck is on your side.
To diagnose the disease early, horsemen should watch out for particular signs or symptoms. One of the signs is how the horse rests its weight while walking. A horse sick from caudal heel pain will rest its weight on the toe as it tries to avoid the painful and inflamed heel. It will also take longer to stop the stride while walking due to pressure on this toe.
Another sign to look out for is whether the pony shifts its weight from time to time while standing. If the pony is sick of caudal heel pain, it will continually shift weight in an effort to remove pressure from the heel and relieve the pain. The continuous shifting of weight causes the shoulders to grow lame and the gait to become rough. In addition, the horse will walk demonstrating lameness which gets better only after resting.
When these symptoms are observed, a veterinary doctor should be contacted. Veterinarians are equipped with the right tools for diagnosis of the caudal heel pain. Among these tools include hoof testers which apply pressure over the frog area. If the area is inflamed, the pressure from the hoof tester produces pain causing the pony to flinch.
Veterinary doctors may also use a local anesthesia to know whether this pain is responsible for the lameness in your horse. The anesthesia relieves pain in the inflamed area for a while through cutting off the nerve supply in the area. When pain is relieved, the horse walks normally, that is if the lameness was caused by the syndrome. If otherwise, the horse continues to be lame even after the anesthesia.
So what treatment options are available? There are several treatment options for this pain which range from conservation to aggressive. They include the use of medication, therapeutic shoeing and surgery. The response to treatment is unpredictable and therefore, it is more effective to work gradually up from the conservative options to the most drastic. If one works better than the other, the pony will give a positive response.
To relieve pressure and consequently pain, therapeutic shoeing is used. Vasodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed to relieve pain and increase blood flow to the affected area respectively. The most common treatment option is surgery. A surgeon cuts off the nerve endings at the back of the foot so that the pony does not feel pain anymore. However, the nerves may grow back and therefore the solution remains viable for only 3 to five years.
It is hard to say which breeds are most affected but thoroughbreds and warm-bloods seem to have the highest incidence of caudal heel pain. On the other hand, the Arabian breed is rarely affected. Even though the disease does not always spell a desired outcome after infection, diagnosing it early enough and subsequent treatment helps the horse. The pony also gets back to its service fully, if luck is on your side.
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