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mercredi 21 novembre 2018

A Discussion On Navicular Disease In Horses

By Michael Schmidt


Among the first species domesticated by the ever enterprising human race are horses. They have been so for at least four thousand years before the common era. And now, fast forward to a couple thousand more years, theyre still very much useful and endearing to people the whole world over. They are quintessential in many operations unique to the human enterprise, from sports, work, hobbies, to simple pet owning and caring. It is therefore imperative to look out for certain diseases and conditions that impinge on the health and well being or our quintessential helpmates, such as navicular disease in horses.

Of all the ailments and some such complaints associated with these animals, lameness is perhaps predominant. This condition is one that is suffered by a huge fraction of the equine population. This turned out to be the condition which horse owners and fanciers are most in the lookout for.

Its particularly worrying since it is one that considerably lowers a horses usefulness and productivity, and correspondingly, its market value and intrinsic worth. You cant put the flak on people whose foremost concern is profit, that which is perfectly acceptable and valid. You can see the point if the animal is being used as a workhorse or racehorse. Obviously, it will no longer be able to run the track or pull the load.

Much intuitively, the repeated compression of this bone is a leading contributing factor in cartilage degeneration. The flattening of the cartilage causes it to be less shock absorbing and springy. Its continued abuse would lead to navicular disease in the long term.

Arduous and strenuous activities are also contributive. For example, excessive running, galloping, jumping, and generally working on steep hills, hard, and irregular ground intuitively contribute to the diseases development. The conformation of the hooves is also important, such as in the way theyre run, sheared, contracted, or otherwise naturally formed, for example, if theyre disproportionately small and mismatched. Weight to foot size ratio is also important, since the relative load on the foot is accordingly greater. Its also more occurring in heavy bodied and hot blooded horses like thoroughbreds and quarter horses, and in ages between seven and fourteen.

To know whether or not your horse has this syndrome, its important to pay attention to the way its walking. For example, their gait is typically toe to heel, rather than heel to toe. The painful heel will also be often pointed and forwarded slightly than the other foot, so that it might bear lighter weight. Horses with this condition have difficulties in turning bends, going downhill, or walking on hard surfaces.

A very specific instance of lameness causing disease is the navicular syndrome. In fact, this insidious ailment is responsible for the third largest contributive factor on the disability of horses. The bone of contention is a canoe shaped structure in the middle interior hoof of the horse. In fact, the appellation navicular comes from a Latin word meaning small boat, or something like that.

No one know how this syndrome develops. Thats because its an insidious condition that comes out of nowhere and progresses rather slowly. It is also widely occurring in an extensive demographic of differing kinds and conditions, so it can therefore be baffling where it springs from in the first place.

For a chronic ailment with no known cures, one can still mitigate the symptoms. Therapeutic hoofing is one such approach, in which a farrier makes customized horseshoes that is well suited to the horses condition, such that if the heel part is raised in comparison to the toes. Others would prefer removing the shoes, however, so as to increase the blood flow to the bones of the hooves. You can also pitch in some medications such as anti-inflammatory drugs or some such. Surgery that desensitizes the leg forever should be taken as a last resort.




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