Monday, November 24, 2014

Why Horses Go Through Navicular Pain

By Ida Dorsey


Navicular infections are perhaps the main reasons behind lameness of front limbs in many horses presently. These infections lead to navicular pain which mainly restricts the way the horses perform. The key reason why this occurs is not very clear because locating the exact basis of this pain has been difficult for many scholars. Over the past few years, many stallions have been diagnosed wrongly as many vets classify front limb distress as being caused by the navicular syndrome.

The navicular region can be found in the front legs of horses around their hooves. Sometimes, this area gets affected by some infection that makes them experience some distress which makes them perform very poorly. However, it is not a terminal disease and therefore cannot disable or kill the animal entirely. It is just a mild infection that one can easily prevent or treat.

There are many other reasons why stallions may be lame henceforth there are some particular tests that assist to determine if this syndrome is accountable for the distress. There are some bodily tests that should be done along with the radiographic tests so that the disease is not misguided for another.

There are various major signs that can help to tell if a horse is lame. For instance, they land in an unusual way because they want to put more weight on the back feet than the front ones. Other physical tests that can be used include the use of hoof testers. These are things that will help to show how they reacts to this painful experience. They can also check the size of their hooves because the ones with the illness have smaller front hooves since they try as hard as possible to reduce the pressure exerted on them.

Another physical test usually used by many people to detect this particular pain is the use of anesthesia. This medicine is usually injected in the front limbs so that the feet become numb and they cannot feel any irritation in that area. If the abnormal behavior noticed on the horse before stops, it will be clear that this infliction is the main cause.

After the infection has been correctly detected, immediate medical actions should be taken. Correct shooing is the best thing to do. The caregiver should make certain that the shoe is balanced on all sides of the hooves and that all sides have equal pressure. Later some medications can be given to the stallion to ease their pain.

After the medicine has been administered, various physical examinations can be carried out on the stallion to help rise the blood stream of the front legs. Better blood stream will help the stallion to have better equilibrium that will apply the same weight on all legs. These exercises must be done for an hour each day.

Not every horse has the same response to the treatments. Sometimes the horse might even be resistance to all treatments leaving the only option being a surgery. The surgery helps to cut out the extra ligaments that make the horse uncomfortable thus causing distress.




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