A word about how MRI works is appropriate before launching into a discussion of the foot and problems that can occur in the heel area, because MRI has opened the door to a better understanding of foot conditions in general.
Healthy bone undergoes constant metabolic change to prevent bone loss or abnormal remodeling (cell turnover) that can occur with loading. Horses with navicular disease can have abnormal remodeling and formation of osteolytic lesions (areas of
One of the most common comments at the 15th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium in Louisville, Ky., Jan. 21-23, 2002, was that if farriers or veterinarians don’t have a passion for working on laminitic horses, they shouldn’t take the cases.
Researchers at Colorado State University’s (CSU) Equine Orthopaedic Laboratory are once again recruiting horses suffering from navicular disease to participate in the second phase of a horseshoe study. The first study, which began last August,
“Navicular disease is very difficult to study, because you can’t reproduce it in a normal horse,” said Earl Gaughan, DVM, of Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “You can’t then work backward from the disease to find a cure.
A recently published clinical study conducted at Auburn University Equine Hospital supports the use of the nutraceutical product Cosequin in navicular syndrome cases.
Navicular disease can derail a performance horse’s career. Arthritis-like changes in the navicular bone, including cysts, channels, chip fragments, and bony spurs, become visible on radiographs, but there is controversy about the connection
A variety of topics, ranging from the sophisticated to the mundane, were discussed by presenters who offered their findings under the umbrella subject–The Foot.
Opening the session was Tracy A. Turner, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVS, of the
Most veterinarians and farriers agree that navicular-type lameness is the foot’s response to stress, particularly repetitive stress that can put uneven pressure on different parts of the horse’s foot.
In spite of the best care given to horses in the history of their domesticated lives, record numbers of carefully bred, reared, and trained saddle horses are prevented from fully athletic lives by the crippling disease known as navicular syndrome.”n spite of the best
They met in Italy to exchange information about reproduction, sports medicine, infectious diseases, transportation, and surgery. The more than 300 delegates from 29 different countries, including Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark
Laminitis is one of the most serious and difficult-to-treat diseases horses can get, and only by learning everything about this problem can we prevent and treat it successfully. Enter the 14th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium held Jan. 25-27
Lameness emanating from the caudal aspect of the horse’s foot can be caused by a variety of problems. Here’s a review of what the horse’s navicular bone is, what it does, problems that can occur, and potential treatments.
An egg bar is simply an oval-shaped horseshoe. Where the heels would normally end, they keep going–but in a circular direction, creating an oval back to the shoe.
Navicular disease once was called ‘the last resort of the diagnostically destitute (practitioner),’ based on the syndrome’s ambiguous symptoms and the practitioner’s inability to isolate definitely the source of the horse’
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