It is a chronic disorder of the navicular bone in horses which causes lameness in the front feet. It mostly describes an inflammation of the scaphoid bone and its surrounding tissues mostly in the front feet. This navicular disease is manageable with time by using drugs or other kinds of treatment.
One of the main symptoms of this sickness is where the horse places its weight on toes most of the times. The horse does this to hinder pain and pressure on the scaphoid bone. Another sign is that the horse delays to stop the strides it takes. Horses who are victims of this illness keep on shifting their weight when standing to reduce pain on the heel area. This makes the horses to place most of their weight on the toes making the gait hard resulting to pain mostly on the shoulders. Such condition disappears after the animal rests. Presence of long toes and under slung heels is another symptom found in horses with navicular sickness.
A major cause of sickness is interruption of supply of blood to the bone. This damage occurs to the deep flexor tendon, the burse and the bone tissues resulting to mild pain. This condition is often found in horses with five years or more. However, the illness is manageable with time.
Determination of scaphoid bone illness is conducted by veterinarians through physical observations and by use of x-rays. Physical determination is where a hoof tester is placed hard on the forward legs of a horse. Presence of navicular condition makes the horse to flinch when the tester is placed. The tester is as well placed on the hind legs to compare how the horse reacts. X-rays are mostly employed to cancel out the other causes of lameness in horses.
Medication of the complaint is done through various techniques. Appropriate shoeing is one of the techniques of dealing with this illness. It is simply balancing of hooves forward to backward and side wards. Since the most experienced impact of this affliction is long toes, this can be corrected by trimming the front hoof.
Another way of treating this illness is drug therapy. The most successful drug that has been severally is isoxsuprine. This treatment helps in dilating blood vessels which improves circulation of blood in the scaphoid bone. Studies have shown that eighty percent of horses treated with this drug have responded well.
Exercise is also another way of navicular condition treatment. As explained earlier, the main causes of this illness is decreased circulation and trauma to the bone. Riding infected horses with intervals of thirty to sixty minutes six times per week helps in the exercise treatment. The horses are trained to bear more weight on the hind legs. The last kind of treatment is surgery. This is highly recommendable to horses who fail to respond to drug, exercise and correct shoeing treatments.
In conclusion, the ailment is not a death sentence. With the types of medication mentioned above and much care, the sickness can be managed and victims can head back to their normal health. Awareness on how to deal with this affliction should be created so as to save as many horses as possible.
One of the main symptoms of this sickness is where the horse places its weight on toes most of the times. The horse does this to hinder pain and pressure on the scaphoid bone. Another sign is that the horse delays to stop the strides it takes. Horses who are victims of this illness keep on shifting their weight when standing to reduce pain on the heel area. This makes the horses to place most of their weight on the toes making the gait hard resulting to pain mostly on the shoulders. Such condition disappears after the animal rests. Presence of long toes and under slung heels is another symptom found in horses with navicular sickness.
A major cause of sickness is interruption of supply of blood to the bone. This damage occurs to the deep flexor tendon, the burse and the bone tissues resulting to mild pain. This condition is often found in horses with five years or more. However, the illness is manageable with time.
Determination of scaphoid bone illness is conducted by veterinarians through physical observations and by use of x-rays. Physical determination is where a hoof tester is placed hard on the forward legs of a horse. Presence of navicular condition makes the horse to flinch when the tester is placed. The tester is as well placed on the hind legs to compare how the horse reacts. X-rays are mostly employed to cancel out the other causes of lameness in horses.
Medication of the complaint is done through various techniques. Appropriate shoeing is one of the techniques of dealing with this illness. It is simply balancing of hooves forward to backward and side wards. Since the most experienced impact of this affliction is long toes, this can be corrected by trimming the front hoof.
Another way of treating this illness is drug therapy. The most successful drug that has been severally is isoxsuprine. This treatment helps in dilating blood vessels which improves circulation of blood in the scaphoid bone. Studies have shown that eighty percent of horses treated with this drug have responded well.
Exercise is also another way of navicular condition treatment. As explained earlier, the main causes of this illness is decreased circulation and trauma to the bone. Riding infected horses with intervals of thirty to sixty minutes six times per week helps in the exercise treatment. The horses are trained to bear more weight on the hind legs. The last kind of treatment is surgery. This is highly recommendable to horses who fail to respond to drug, exercise and correct shoeing treatments.
In conclusion, the ailment is not a death sentence. With the types of medication mentioned above and much care, the sickness can be managed and victims can head back to their normal health. Awareness on how to deal with this affliction should be created so as to save as many horses as possible.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire