anyone have any comments on the best thing to help a navicular horse?

Wedge shoe are usually always a big help and don't let the feet go much longer than 6 weeks.

tucoprim might help

oops i meant isoxuprine instead or tucoprim
sorry they are all too big a words for me!
the isoxuprine is supposed to help the blood flow and circulation in the hoof. along with proper shoeing should be good.

Instead of posting questions on a website to a bunch of people; I guess I don't understand why you wouldn't spend the money and take your horse to an equine practitioner who can correctly evaluate the horses way of going. I understand that people want to help but people who are not veterinarians should not be giving medical advise. Every horse and every situation is different. That's just my opinion.

Wow Tye, now THATS quite a statement!! I purchased a gelding a few yrs back..after getting him home, knew something was wrong so I took him to my local "vet", he did the xrays, he couldnt' find a problem, infact he looked at my husband and says "well, what do YOU think" holy crap..MY husband dx-ing (diagnosing) from xrays???? Anyway, in trusing that MY VET knew that the xrays looked "clean" home we went...well with in a month & numerous arguments with my dearly beloved I finally won...and we hauled the horse AND THE SAME XRAYS to Billy Maupin in Idaho...Lo & behold the horse was "navicular" and it was "at least a 3 year deterioration" so...guess my point is that you might just have better luck getting advice on the internet then your vet...so do you happen to have a "connection" with a vet?? I happen to have gotten burnt pretty bad..the horse was gauranteed, people were holding my check til my vet cleared him..so...then when I finally got him to a REAL vet, they'd cahsed the check..it was less than a month after I'd purchased him..I had to hire an attorney and ended up having to accpet monthly payments...ALL BECAUSE I WENT TO A VET that didn't have a clue~ I find in our area I have better luck in getting on here to a few different sites and inquiring..I mean what can it hurt..if you actually own a horse(s), as I have all of my life, I would hope that your HORSE SENSE would kick in & you would have a clue but a bit of advice or suggestions from others in same situation never hurts...
PS....Billy recommended Isoxoprine too..for circulation and then we used the wide wedged aluminum shoes....it helped...

Molly,
In response to your rebutle; I would say this. As far as your horse problem It might have been worth a "Pre Purchase exam being done by an "Equine Practitioner". Billy Maupin is an equine practitioner, "and a good one at that"! Vets are no different than human doctors. You would not go to a "Family Practitioner" for open heart surgery or a ACL replacement, you would go to a specialist. It is no different with animals. It sounds like you did the right thing by making a trip to Idaho Equine so Dr. Maupin could correctly diagnose your horse. The point that I am trying to make is that Dr. Maupin went through 8 years of schooling and several years of residency to become Board Certified by the AAEP. With that being said he is very qualified to diagnose lameness issues in equine athletes as well as come up with a treatment as well. The problem that I have is number one the drugs that people are telling you about on these public forums are most likely federally restricted drugs that have to not only be prescribed by a veterinarian but they have to be purchased as well by a vet. So what gives Joe Blow the right to prescribe treatment to a horse that he has not seen and has no history or background on? You wouldn't call your doctor with chest pains and expect him to prescribe treatment over the phone without first checking your vital signs and overall health. Matter of fact you would darn sure wonder what kind of doctor he is if he did. It is just plain irresponsible of people that are not vets to try and prescribe treatment for animals especially ones that they have not seen or worked up a lameness exam on. What if the guy that posted the treatment of giving the above mentioned horse tuciprim didn't email back and say "o'h, sorry I meant Isoxoprim", the horse may have had an allergic reaction to the drug and died? Who's responsible then? Vet's pay thousands of dollars a year in malpractice insurance to cover themselves if something like this were to happen. I feel your frustration with your local vet who misdiagnosed your horse, I really do, but I feel that it is unfair of you to brand vets as uneducated idots that do not have the best interest of your animal in mind. It sounds like the first vet that you took your horse to might have not been the best pick. then again sometimes X-Rays may look clean and are not. At the same time caudal heel pain can sometimes not show up on an X-Ray and the horse may suffer from severe heel pain just liek navicular. Maybe the vet asking you husband what he thought might not have been the best thing to say, but sometimes vets like us just hit a wall and are stumped! Veterinary medicine like all medicine is not a perfect science. It sounds like you are on the right track with your horse though. I wish you the best of luck with him or her in the future. I just find it disheartening that people will not do like you did and get a second opinion. It seems like alot of people will wait until their animal is on the brink of death or cannot walk before they finally spend the money to take it to the vet to diagnose the problem. You wouldn't wait until your child had a 110 degree fever and could not get out of bed before you run him or her to the emergency room, would you? People have a responsibility to their animals to provide the best care possible. Some will say "O'h it is expensive", "I can't afford it", that is part of caring for your animals! If you can't afford a trip to an Equine Vet than maybe owning a horse isn't for that person. I here Orange County Choppers make great motorbikes. And lastly in my long winded rebutle, my wife is an Equine Practitioner and after seeing what she has put forth in getting to where she is at in her career, (eight years of schooling, Continuing Education, Internships with equine surgical hospitals) I have the utmost respect for good EQUINE VETS. I just don't feel that their abilities in their field of study should be discounted by people on public forums. I wish you the best of luck with your horse! It sounds like it has just been a bad deal from the start. I just hope for your sake that you do not let your one bad experience with a vet ruin your attitude towards them. Because one day you may be in a situation where you just might need a good horse vet, and will be damn glad you know one.

Tygh;
Ok, 1st & foremost, I live in a VERY rural area..@ the time I needed the vet, he was the only vet within 3.5 hrs of my home..and I really believe that as common as Naviclar Disease is in Horses is..come on, throw me a bone..Dr. Maupin had a VERY puzzeled look when he looked @ the SAME Xrays & asked about the vet that took them..couldn't understand why he couldn't see the deterioration...
2ndly...I have a HUGE problem with people putting words in my mouth..UNEDUCATED IDIOTS..??? when I use THAT term I am usually refering to a Federal employee as I live in a ranching community...do you see the connection now?????
3rd-ly...I happen to work @ our local hospital..have for 21 years and I know for a fact that if myself or my family member have issues that our local GP's can't seem to "fix" they will most definately refer us out of town to specialits....I guess I would have expected our "local" vet to maybe admit that he wasn't sure what the problem was and suggest we go else where????
Pre-purchase exam...hmmm horse was purchased @ auction but the owner (Patti) was actually holding my chk as she knew the horse was "guaranteed"..said to let her know what our vet said...
And Tygh, you didn't need to give me the "history" on Billy Maupin....we've used him before....and if he'd of lived closer we'd of most certainly made the drive but I was totally trusting the vet here...
And do you seriously think that JOE BLOW would be able to get those drugs and just hand them out willy-nilly to anyone that asks??? Not in this area....
Alot of COMMON SENSE goes a long way..if I inquire about advice about a particular problem..if it involves something evasive don't worry..I will consult a vet first..
PS: I DO know a good vet, infact I have her number on speed dial in my cell phone....the experience that took place with the gelding and the vet does not mean that I won't call a vet when necessary, infact you should ask my dearly beloved..he thinks I call the vet WAY too often..and you ought to see out vet bills..I honestly can't say I won't call a vet becuz of what happened before...
Tell your wife she should be proud of her accomplishments..and TYGH don't take this so personal...
It was nice chatting with you~Keep the Faith
Molly

Joe,

Depends on what stage the navicular is in. There is a new product out called Tildren. It is a swedish drug that is still being approved. However it is available. Navicular can be seen as a type of cancer. Navicular is the process in which cells actually eat away at the navicualr bone. When you look at a horse that has been diagnosed with navicular, you will see little "holes." Tildren is injected through an IV. usually your horse has to be at the clinic for a few hours. The Tildren "eats" if you will, the "bad" cells. The best analogy would be cancer and chemotherapy. usually after this process a bursa and navicualr injection is recommended to keep the inflamation down. The best thing about the Tildren is that it is the only drug on the market that will actually stop the process of navicular. The procedure is hghly recommended by one of the top DVM's in the nation. The procedure without the injections is around $1200. if your horse is too far into the disease. there is the option of "Nerving" the horse. This is simply a procedure where the nerve in which gives the navicualr joint and bone feel, is "clipped." After this is done, your horse no longer has feeling of his foot. The bad thing about nerving is that eventhough your horse is now sound, you still have the issue of the navicular still progressing. Stumbling can sometimes happen. But most often the horse can be used as it was before. However, the front feet will need pads to keep a nail or other sharp object from penetrating the hoof and infecting the foot. Sometimes, a ball (looks similar to the burl, something your dog comes home with after a day in the field.) This si sometimes more painful than what your horse was undergoing before the procedure. there are many many different situations and things to look at before choosing one of the many options you have to treat navicular. However the main thing to concentrate on while your deciding is to keep your horse shod on a regular basis. DO NOT let your shoer take off too much heel. This is a big reason s to why alot of horses get navicular. Owners let their feet get too long or the shoers take too much heel off. Putting pressure on the navicualr bone and joint and causing inflamation. If you do need a procedure done, Dr. Marty Gardner is based in Gardnerville Nevada. He is the on call vet for the NCHA futurity as well as many other major shows. He is one of the best in the business. He can tell you all about the Tildren. Also, Dr. Gary Kaufman is in Scottsdale Arizona. He is another top vet, serving as the on call vet for the Prescott Fronteir Days and other major PRCA rodeos. Another is Dr. McCarrol. He is based out of Gainsville TX. Hope i answered your question.