The horsey domestic animals face a slew of adverse health crises majorly on the foot area due to their racing activities. These crises majorly revolve around the navicular horses which is a degenerative syndrome affecting the scaphoid bone. It is a saucer-like bone impended between the coffin bone and the short pastern bone. The ailment also affects the bursa cushion as well as the DDFT thus resulting in lameness and swelling of the hoof as a result of excessively stressing the feet area.
The inflammation mostly results from wear and tear as colt ages while the syndrome is most commonly portrayed in older ones. The condition affects all the breeds but the incidence is highest in Quarter horse breeds, Warm-bloods, and Thoroughbreds. However, colts with large, heavy body and relatively small hooves are often at a greater risk of the navicular syndrome as well as other foot problems.
Non-acquiesce practices increase the chances of developing the caudal pains. This involves the continuous use of mismatching pastern angles. This practice is tragic since it causes the deep digital flexor tendon to overstretch beyond its limit. It thus results in building up of pressure on the scaphoid bone and other adjacent skeletal structures. Failure to follow a scheduled hoof cutting is also a contributing factor that triggers the intensification of palmar foot pain.
The palmar foot pain basically affects only the front feet but with varying intensities. This makes one foot to experience more pain than the other. This attribute is vital in that it enhances the visibility of lameness. It is clearly observed during short-striding where the horse negotiates sharp corners. This is examined through observing the landing posture of feet which should be the heel-to-toe landing and not its complement.
The owners and other personnel have ventured in the use of the radiographing technique in a quest to minimize the adversity of this condition. However, the process has piled continued failures over the decades since it does not account for the relationship between therapeutically altered bones and heel pain. Therefore, this has fueled the use of magnetic resonance imaging which clearly gives finer details of soft tissue structures surrounding the scaphoid bone.
The caudal heel pain syndrome can be managed to reduce the pain and significantly minimize the excessive stress that affects the deep digital flexor tendon. This management can be achieved by staging the equine in a layup period in a stall with a small paddock. This allows the painful structures to have a serene rest for their recovery. The equines should be kept at the correct body weight. Regular hoof trimming should be practiced to maintain the correct hoof angles and pasterns.
In addition, appropriate shoeing exercise is also essential in the remedy since it improves the horse comfort through balancing. Hormonal steroid medications are also channeled on some breeds. In some cases, the pain may be obstinate and uncontrollable, this forces the veterinarians to adopt the neurectomy therapy. It involves getting rid of nerves leading to the affected area. As a result, it makes the horse not to feel bruised cavities, lameness and other related conditions.
Therefore, the navicular syndrome in horses is usually accompanied by irritating symptoms that discomfort the equines. The adverse condition can be calmly suppressed by use various management strategies. They are usually administered to make the hoofed animals more comfortable and decrease stress and inflammation in the affected structures.
The inflammation mostly results from wear and tear as colt ages while the syndrome is most commonly portrayed in older ones. The condition affects all the breeds but the incidence is highest in Quarter horse breeds, Warm-bloods, and Thoroughbreds. However, colts with large, heavy body and relatively small hooves are often at a greater risk of the navicular syndrome as well as other foot problems.
Non-acquiesce practices increase the chances of developing the caudal pains. This involves the continuous use of mismatching pastern angles. This practice is tragic since it causes the deep digital flexor tendon to overstretch beyond its limit. It thus results in building up of pressure on the scaphoid bone and other adjacent skeletal structures. Failure to follow a scheduled hoof cutting is also a contributing factor that triggers the intensification of palmar foot pain.
The palmar foot pain basically affects only the front feet but with varying intensities. This makes one foot to experience more pain than the other. This attribute is vital in that it enhances the visibility of lameness. It is clearly observed during short-striding where the horse negotiates sharp corners. This is examined through observing the landing posture of feet which should be the heel-to-toe landing and not its complement.
The owners and other personnel have ventured in the use of the radiographing technique in a quest to minimize the adversity of this condition. However, the process has piled continued failures over the decades since it does not account for the relationship between therapeutically altered bones and heel pain. Therefore, this has fueled the use of magnetic resonance imaging which clearly gives finer details of soft tissue structures surrounding the scaphoid bone.
The caudal heel pain syndrome can be managed to reduce the pain and significantly minimize the excessive stress that affects the deep digital flexor tendon. This management can be achieved by staging the equine in a layup period in a stall with a small paddock. This allows the painful structures to have a serene rest for their recovery. The equines should be kept at the correct body weight. Regular hoof trimming should be practiced to maintain the correct hoof angles and pasterns.
In addition, appropriate shoeing exercise is also essential in the remedy since it improves the horse comfort through balancing. Hormonal steroid medications are also channeled on some breeds. In some cases, the pain may be obstinate and uncontrollable, this forces the veterinarians to adopt the neurectomy therapy. It involves getting rid of nerves leading to the affected area. As a result, it makes the horse not to feel bruised cavities, lameness and other related conditions.
Therefore, the navicular syndrome in horses is usually accompanied by irritating symptoms that discomfort the equines. The adverse condition can be calmly suppressed by use various management strategies. They are usually administered to make the hoofed animals more comfortable and decrease stress and inflammation in the affected structures.
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