Saturday 29 November 2014

Navicular Syndrome Needs To Be Recognized Quickly To Avoid Suffering

By Ida Dorsey


There is surely nothing more distressing for an equestrian to look forward to a ride on your favorite horse, only to get to the stable and find the horse to be lame. Although this is a fairly common condition, especially after a long and rough outride, it is nonetheless of great concern as it is a painful condition for the animal and in most cases complete rest is the best treatment while the bone and surrounding tissue is given time to heal after the navicular syndrome has passed.

Special shoes have been designed over the years to treat and alleviate the pain and as the horse's hooves are extremely important, the farrier taking care of the hooves needs to be well qualified to maintain the general condition of the hooves. It is advisable for the farrier to ensure that the pressure on the tendons and tissue in the hooves is minimized.

If the animal shows a tendency of lameness too frequently, regular check-ups by a trusted veterinarian is important. A chronic and disabling disease can be the result of neglecting the symptoms which can lead to other more serious abnormal conditions. Lameness is usually the result of injury of the heel area of the feet due to incorrect landing of the horse and the rider should guide the horse to make the correct normal landing which is heel to toe, instead of the other way around.

Discovering lameness in one's horse is very disheartening. Recognizing this at an early stage is vital. It will lead to early treatment and therefore earlier recovery.

It is often the case that one front foot is more affected than the other. This can be identified when the animal often switches weight from one leg to the other. Working the horse hard when this condition is evident is not advisable and hard and rough surfaces are to be avoided as this will certainly retard the healing process and prove to be uncomfortable for the animal.

To discover the symptoms of lameness in ones beloved horse is always distressing and it is therefore important to recognize the symptoms at the very early stages as this will give a definite advantage to an earlier recovery. It is generally believed that one front foot may be more painful than the other and this can be seen if the horse tends to switch from one leg to the other. The condition will be exacerbated if the animal is worked on a very rough or hard surface and should therefore be avoided.

A much gentler work schedule is recommended for the horse while lameness is evident and jumping should only be done in the arena where there are soft surfaces to land. However, slow and gentle distances can be undertaken in order for the general fitness of the horse to be maintained while recovering. Steep hills and rough and hard surfaces are to be avoided at all cost if a successful recovery is to be envisaged.

In this day and age the benefit of a great deal of research is at ones disposal in order to reach quicker results and this is also the case in the treatment of navicular disease or syndrome. Coupled with care and patience the animal can quickly be brought to its normal state of fitness through the correct help after which horse and rider will again be able to partake in the wonderful sport of riding and jumping.




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