when i turned 15 Cue came into my life.he was a lively and vibrant 2yr old qh gelding.like siblings or spouses,we blended our lives together.seldom left a show without some color ribbon.broke a few bones.almost drowned him once.a true winner.carried both my children on his bare back.never stopped nickering to me.he was 2 when he came to me.was 25 when i sent him to heaven.worst case of navicular ive ever seen.he couldnt stand for a year.if i could give anyone any advice, it would be to put him down when he lies down half the timme.postscript...though i did not do what i advise i am probably one of the few who can understand the reluctance an owner has.i was 15 when Cue came to me,37when i sent him to heaven. a few years too late.he was wonderful always beautiful.i kept him from too much pain.i was selfish tho. if you read this, and your horse has been diagnosed with navicular-let him go sooner than later.love him with all your heart.listen to your vet. when he lies down more than stands up, its time. send him to heaven with a kiss a hug and thankful memories.
Posted By: michelle
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Don't Worry, Be Happy! =)
Posted By: Nick
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Hello! Nice site ;) Bye
Posted By: awarfgypepepe
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I dont really know what to say, about everyones opinions and comments. I think everyone should do what they feel is best for their horse, after all who knows your horse better? my horse has the smallest feet, thin walls, and the biggest butt on the ranch, hes been lame for about a month, I know its navicular, and with every thing iv been studing and reading for the last two years, im going to have to go with a natural trimmer and gluquestrian. take it or leave it
Posted By: Missy
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I bought a beautiful Paint mare almost a year ago and two months after my purchase she came down lame. It took me 6 months and seeing several different vets before she was diagnosed with Navicular. An MRI was done and showed end-stage disease. I have spent total on her and all bills around $20,000. I'm sure she was symptomatic prior to my buying her, but I can't prove it. So, I basically have a pasture horse that I am paying to board. Just wanted to vent.
Posted By: Shana
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some days my horse is not in pain and some days he can hardly walk why?
Posted By: krista
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my horse has just been diagnosed with navicular to say that this awful disease is to do with people that take care of there horses well is wrong, my horse has had the best shoeing you can get by the a brillant farrier she is shod every 5 weeks. at the mo she is having blancing shoes on however these havent help her so my top vet has suggest injections into the hoof which i hope will make her more comtable. my vet says that navicular is to do with poor foot confirmation which i have to say i agree with. if anybody has had their horse de-nerved could they give some advice as i love my horse to pieces and only want the best for her.
Posted By: gemma
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Would anyone purchase a horse knowing the horse has a navicular problem?
Posted By: kate carlson
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DOES ANYONE ON HERE ATCUALLY KNOW WHAT NAVICULAR IS?? IF IT IS ANY NE PROBLEM? I HAVE RECENTLY BOUGHT A HORSE WITH NAVICULAR TO BREED FROM AS I WAS INFORMED BY A VERY REPUTABLE STUD THAT IT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT PASSED ON GENETICALLY. THE MARE I BOUGHT HAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING BREEDING SO I THOUGHT IT WAS AN OPPORTUNIY NOT TO BE MISSED. I HATE PEOPLE BREEDING JUST BECAUSE THE HORSE IS OTHERWISE USELESS. WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG?????
Posted By: VERY FRUSTRATED NICOLE
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Well Tamara, my horse has navicular and I kept corrective shoes on her for about a year and now she is going barefoot and is doing fine (no lameness) also get Gluquestrian daily. So I think you need to do a little more research also. Thanks JF
Posted By: anonymous
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Hi, I am Tamara Wise. I am a vet and I work at a clinic in Southern California. I think this is an interesting article but I do not think it is 100% accurate. For instance, Navicular Disease is not "Man-Made" it is due to Genetics. I think that Navicular Disease can happen upon any horse under any conditions and some horses are just unlucky. I do think that man-made situations can worsen the horse's Syndrome AFTER IT IS ALREADY THERE. And I also think that taking a horses shoes off and letting them go barefoot is a HORRIBLE idea. It just worsens the pain already inflicted on the horse and corrective shoeing is a more positive treatment, such as putting Egg Bar shoeing on the horse or pads. Thank you very much for your well-thought out article but I think you need to do your research before posting it.
Posted By: Tamara Wise
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I THINK THIS ARTICLE IS UNTRUE. MY 5 YEAR OLD Q.H WAS RECENTLY DIAGNOISED WITH NAVICULAR BY THE BEST VET IN THE NORTH EAST. MY VET SAYS IT CAN BE CORRECTED BY SHOEING PROPERLY EVERY 6 WEEKS. HE IS ON MEDICINE AT THE TIME WHICH IS HELPING SOMEWHAT. HE IS ALSO BAREFOOT ON HIS FOOT AND THATIS NOT HELPING. MY PRE-PURCHASE VET WAS PAID MONEY BY THE SALESMAN TO PASS HIM AS SOUND. MY VET NOW SAYS HIS NAVICULAR IS IN THE LATE STAGES AND HE WILL AHVE TO BE SOLD. THEREFORE I THINK NAVICULAR IS A DISEASE.
Posted By: COURT
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This is an okay article. However I must disagree with several aspects of it. My 6 yr old APHA gelding was diagnosed almost one year ago with Navicular. However x-rays reveal His is not man made, but is however a birth defect where neither of His front navicular bones fused together.
Posted By: Angela
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Some say it's hereditary and other say it's the environment. That's like saying all serious human diseases are hereditary. In the animal kingdom the weak don't survive and the gene pool is protected. In our man-made breeding facilities, we line-breed, in-breed breed for color, size and whatever we think is the correct confirmation of our equine buddies. I have a horse with Navicular and my vet told me it was caused by his over-training in the bayou's,hard buckshot soil, and mud-bogs of La. My horse was raised on a 25 acre pasture along with 4 other horses and 25 cattle. At 14, he didn't start his lameness issues until 2 years ago. Should I believe him or every other snake oil salesman trying to pitch a product or with credentials attached to his name. I take the exercise with my horse slowly. I let my children ride him instead of adults and I make sure he is trimmed, fed, and watered. If I look at him closely and see the pain, then I give him a little bute. I don't overmedicate him but try my best to make him comfortable. It's up to each person to make their own decision about his/her horse since every TB, QH, Arab, etc.. has never been tested for Nav, HYPP or all other issues affecting equines.
Posted By: Rosey
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Even though this article is informative, I dont see how anyone can claim that Navicular Disease is 100% man made. It is NOT. It can have many different reasons and conformation is one of them. There are alot of good points in this article, but a little knowledge doesnt make anyone an expert. I have been working with horses my whole life, that still doesnt make me an expert horse trainer. I wish the writer of this article had done a little more research before publishing it.
Posted By: Alex
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Cheryl N. Sutor, M.H.G. Hoofcare Clinician wrote this article a few years ago when she owned Equusite.com. She does barefoot trimming in the Chicago area. I am very glad your horse is better and that you are a good caring owner and found a Vet that understood the problem and could help. Trimming a horse properly helps some horses and many are wearing shoes that don't need to, in fact the shoes are a problem for some horses and not the solution. On the other hand some horses should be wearing shoes and so your point and others on this comment page is the article isn't very balanced. I agree. I will consider if this article should be removed or re-written and replaced. For now your comments will give some a different point of view to consider. Best Regards, Bob
Posted By: Bob
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I read your article and I don't see that you are a farrier or a veterinarian, therefore I don't understand how you are qualified to write this obviously incorrect information. My horse has navicular (Problems). She was dead lame, could barely move. I did much research and took her to Gainesville, Fl veterinary hospital and that is the best thing I could have done. After all of the testing they recomended corrective shoeing and rest for her. That was in May 2005. Since then I started giving her Gluquestrian daily and she is a new horse. I ride her and she is doing great. In your article you did not say that certain horses may need different kind of care you just made it very general. My horse has flat feet and therefore needs special attention that some may not need. I think you better stick to training or whatever it is you do and leave the important decisions and life threatening problems to the professionals. I would love a response, but I know that is very unlikely. Thank you
Posted By: Jane Futch
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I find this article to be inaccurate. I have a four year old AQHA mare who has been free roaming on 200 acres with 10 other horses all her life and her hooves are kept trimmed, not shod. She has been limping off and on and she has now been diagnosed with navicular syndrome. The vet assures us it is because of genetics and the fact that she is pigeon toed. Therefore this does not agree with this article on the causes.
Posted By: Janelle
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This is the most promising, and most common-sense, information I have seen on navicular. I bought a 17-year-old former cutting horse (this is my first horse) at auction I later found out has this condition. I'm told it looks like it could be in the early stages, but who knows how long she's really had it. I don't want to sell her, because I know no one else will give her a chance, and this triple-branded, amazingly broke horse was at one time really a prize to someone. Is there still hope left that she might be able to recover enough to compete in barrels at a county show every couple of weeks, or is her neglect just a tragedy I'll have to accept? I like the idea of natural hoofcare because it's not about covering up the problem, but really addressing it.
Posted By: Mary Beth
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This is the most promising, and most common-sense, information I have seen on navicular. I bought a 17-year-old former cutting horse (this is my first horse) at auction I later found out has this condition. I'm told it looks like it could be in the early stages, but who knows how long she's really had it. I don't want to sell her, because I know no one else will give her a chance, and this triple-branded, amazingly broke horse was at one time really a prize to someone. Is there still hope left that she might be able to recover enough to compete in barrels at a county show every couple of weeks, or is her neglect just a tragedy I'll have to accept? I like the idea of natural hoofcare because it's not about covering up the problem, but really addressing it.
Posted By: Mary Beth
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Outstanding article. I very much appreciated the "to the point" approach and this prepared me for a discussion with the vet. and the chap who shoed my horse. It is so hared to get a strait answer and to break the close relationship between the two of them. I am now prepared to prss them for help and to get them to accept their responsibilty for the problem at hand. Covering each others back is harder when you are informed and reaDY.
Posted By: Stan Friedman
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MY 11 YEAR OLD SPANISH GELDING HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH NAVICULAR DISEASE I GIVE HIM STRIDE SUPPLEMENT WHICH HAS GLUCOSAMINE BUT THE VET TELLS ME ITS CRONIC AND THAT THEY WILL HAVE TO TREAT THE NERVE OTHERWISE HE WILL CONTINUE IN PAIN IS THERE REALLY NO OTHER TREATMENT FOR THIS PROBLEM - IF ANYONE CAN OFFER ANY USEFUL INFORMATION I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL I ADORE MY HORSE
Posted By: JACQUI
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HI- I was wondering what Cheryl Sutor credentials are. Please let me know. thanks. Sincerely Kathy Hinton
Posted By: Kathy Hinton
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I can't tell you how happy I was to find an intelligently written article that explains the causes and cure of navicular. I own a five year old quarter horse that was diagnosed with navicular "syndrome" back in 2/02. My vet advised me to put bar-shoes on him and/or sell him, and told me that he would eventually have to be nerved. Fortunately for me and my horse I had attended a talk about going barefoot and recalled hearing that navicular could be treated by removing shoes. So I resisted the quick-fix of "corrective" shoeing and hired a natural trimmer. It wasn't easy, especially seeing my horse stumble around for the first three months as his hooves reconfigurated. It took about nine months after pulling his shoes before I could actually say that he was sound. But now HE IS SOUND whether I'm riding him in the ring or YES even on the rockiest trails here in the Northeast. When he had shoes on he was lame even in the best of sand footings. Yeah, I sacrificed my summer of riding, but it was a small price to pay to try and help my horse have a better life. He probably would have seemed "sound" if I had put him into bar-shoes, but now I know that he really is sound. Now he has a great future ahead of him.
Posted By: Christine
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To Shelley...luck has nothing to do with whether a horse has navicular problems. Even when a horse is trimmed REGULARLY, it doesn't mean that the trim is PHYSIOLOGICALLY CORRECT or right for that individual horse and this is what will cause many problems down the road. To Zoe, the article is neither old nor incorrect. Low heels and flat soles are not hereditary. When a horse is trimmed and managed properly, no matter what breed, it will have concavity in its soles. The cheesy hollow-type bone you describe is due to lack of circulation in the feet. This results from poor management practices. Most people blame poor hoof health on genetics. However, you must also realize that most breeding farms raise their youngsters in the same fashion as they raise their breeding stock. This will result in similar hoof health between all of them no matter who the horse's parents are. Move those youngsters into a proper environment and give them physiologically correct trims and their feet will no longer appear to be related to their parents. If genetics are involved, it is to a very small extent. Proper management and hoofcare techniques are the prerequisites for a lifetime of soundness.
Posted By: Cheryl Sutor
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Hi My name is Shelley and I am from Australia, my horse has recently been diagnosed with Navicular Syndrome. We are lucky here in Australia and my horse has always been out on grass 24/7 with lots of buddies and wasn't broken in until he was seven. He has never done any strenuous work just the odd trail ride on weekends and has only been shod periodically when the ground gets really hard over summer, he has always had his feet trimmed regularily and has no conformation problems, so I guess you can just be unlucky.
Posted By: Shelley Cooper
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This article is either very old or just plain incorrect! It has been clearly researched and documented in the last five-ten years that the morphology (basic composition and structure) of the navicular bone and the low-heeled, flat-soled conformation often seen with the diagnosis IS hereditary. Thoroughbreds afflicted with the disorder were often found to have "cheesey", hollow type bone there. When this was the case, the pathological bone structure was passed along to offspring, more often than not.
Posted By: zoe
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