Thursday, October 29, 2015

All You Need To Know About Navicular Syndrome In Horses

By Mattie Knight


Today, many people love to keep horses for sports. Maintaining these animals is not easy as they suffer from different conditions. If you keep these animals, you could have come across them facing difficulties walking. There are many causes of Navicular, but in most cases, it could be Navicular syndrome in horses making their life difficult.

Today, this disease is common, but the leading cause is not known. But veterinarians say that any damage on the Navicular bone will lead to a short supply of blood to the hoof region. Trauma is another cause known to lead to this. Deep tendons and ligaments get damaged and this is a cause of lameness and pain. Young stallions which have not attained the age of five years are not prone to this condition.

There are many signs that the horse is suffering from this disease. It is widely known that the front feet are affected. This leads to lameness making walking to be a bigger problem. For stallion that tries to walk, they do so in difficulties and walk slowly. Lameness often occurs when the animal is exercised in small circles and on hard grounds. It is also common to see one foot affected than the other.

When the veterinarians arrive to do diagnosis, they check the health history, the signs, the nerve blocks and the radiography. Recurrent lameness suggests the condition is coming. If you watch carefully, the affected animals place the toe first, such that they put their body weight on the heels. To those affected, a local anesthetic is injected into nerves to alleviate the lameness.

When the stallion suffers from the disease, they shy away from it because they do not know the best way to treat it. In the recent years, scientists have done their part to learn about the syndrome. Today, veterinarians and owners know the different conditions that affect the anatomy. Some can be cured, but others will not. Recognizing the early signs helps to choose options that treat the problem.

Navicular syndrome is not terminal. When good treatment is done in early stages, managements can help to reduce the discomforts and make them healthy again. This condition in horses can be related to that of human athletes suffering from bad foot. This means if good care and management are done, everything comes back to normal.

When you notice that the stallion is affected, call a veterinarian to give treatment. This condition can be treated, but rarely does it get cured. Shoeing and corrective trimming is important as it ensures that the foot is level and this gives balance. To encourage early break, Rolled toe egg bar are used. Some medications are also used to reduce pain.

To prevent this disease, people must do early prevention. Horses have different foot shapes and this affects them, making it hard to have good heel support and foot balance. Maintaining this two helps prevent lameness. Carrying out fetlock flexion is encouraged. For the complicated conditions, surgery is done to restore health.




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