Wednesday, August 6, 2014

More About Navicular Disease In Horses

By Annabelle Holman


The navicular region denotes an area on the anterior feet of horses near the hoof. Navicular disease in horses may not be categorized as a deadly illness. It simply is like a bad leg in humans. The situation does not normally mean that an individual will never walk ever again. The illness can be cured helping the individual to feel well again. This article studies some material on navicular illnesses and different methods of treatment.

In order to identify if a stallion has this sickness, the vet typically uses radiographic proof and also the bodily observations. A chain of x-ray checks are usually carried out to show that the bodily signs are not as a result of any other causes of lameness. This can help the vet to avoid allocating the wrong medicines.

There are various signs that horses with this ailment show. For instance, the horse will show signs of lameness on the front feet. Some of them experience the lameness on both feet with one being stronger than the other but for others it is just one foot. When this happens, the horse will be stumbling during movement. The ailment can be seen on horses of any age but it is mostly common when they are seven to fourteen years.

There are various physical tests that can be done by anyone to detect if their horse suffers from this disease. First, when landing, the horse will try to bring the foot only slightly forward so that it rests more on the toe then the heel. Hoof testers can also be applied and the horse will respond to pain. The affected foot usually has smaller hoofs than the opposite one because it has been bearing less pressure for a while.

The test that will most definitely distinguish this ailment is the rough the use of nerve blocks. In this case, anesthesia that is similar to the one used by dentists is applied on the affected foot. This will numb the foot and stop the pain thus the horse will be seen moving normally again. This is because the lameness of foot will reduce and the horses will stop limping.

The most basic treatment for this disease is through correct shoeing. The horse shoes used should be able to balance the hoofs front to back and also side to side. There are also some drugs that can be used to treat this problem. These drugs usually dilate the blood vessels thus helping to increase the flow of blood in the Navicular area. Many horses that use this treatment respond well to it but the duration of treatment varies.

The disease can also be corrected through some exercise practices that will aid in increasing the streaming of blood in affected areas. The exercises ought to be done no less than six days per week for 30 to 60 minutes. The main objective of the exercises is to teach a horse to stabilize the amount of weight applied on the anterior and posterior legs.

There are nonetheless some horses that rarely respond to the treatment methods mentioned above. In such a case, a surgical technique is usually applied to cut the hovering ligaments in the navicular area. It also includes neurectomy on the back digital nerve.




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