No Hoof, No Horse

Horses have to stand most of the time even when they're not working, so lameness is a huge problem. Some issues are fleeting.  A 'hot nail', one that hits the live tissue in their hoof, will certainly make them limp, but just drawing the nail can fix that. They can get footsore from hard ground & work, but some rest, shoeing, or even a rain which softens the ground can ease that.

A 'gravel' is an abscess, while white line & thrush are diseases that attack the hoof & sole, respectively.  Founder (laminitis) makes their feet get hot & sore.  It's usually the result of over-eating, poisoning, or a byproduct of colic.  All of these are usually resolved in less than a week one way or another.  (Colic can kill & a horse that founders too badly has to be put down.) Injuries to their joints or tendons can also cause lameness & will vary widely in their course & treatment, but they're also usually obvious.

Navicular is in a class of its own.  The navicular bone is the second lowest (just above the coffin bone) of the small bones in a horse's hoof with a lot of tendons & nerves running past it.  Navicular syndrome is just a way to say there's a problem in that area & folks rarely know exactly what it is.  It could be any of a number of things & often starts out as an intermittent minor lameness that slowly gets worse.  It's the most drawn out, saddening issue of them all to me since it's a mysterious, degenerative syndrome that often has no remedy.  That's the way it's happened with my pony, Chip, & it's been a really long sad, decline.

Marg, my wife, bought me a pony for my birthday in 2012 when he was 6 years old.  Chip is a 14.1h Appaloosa gelding with a cool disposition that had never been ridden before. I was riding him bareback by myself around the field in just a couple of days.  Marg was quite put out with me for doing that, but Chip & I just clicked.  (OK, it was stupid, but I'd rather have fun than be safe, anyway.  I've got the scars to prove it.)

With a few months of training, we won Reserve Champion in the 18" cross rail equitation division at a local show.  Sure, our competition was a bunch of little girls (The oldest, a 12 year old, whipped us.) but it was his first show & I hadn't competed in over 40 years.  Since then, we've been on trail rides & hunter paces in a lot of different places, but mostly we just ride around the farm.  We wander through the woods & fields jumping & cantering around as the mood strikes us.  We swim in the pond when we can, all the time with the dogs ranging about.  I even remove sparrows nests from the bluebird houses while on his back.  It's a great way for me to work off the frustrations of the server room & help desk duties.  He seems to enjoy it too & responds to my commands far more readily than anyone else.

A few years ago, he started having lameness issues in his front feet & we quickly realized it was navicular.  Not a broken bone, just a slow degeneration that's probably hereditary as we've since found out that both his grandfather & sister had the issue.  Drugs for pain & inflammation help somewhat, but too much of those will cause him to go off his feed or even colic.  Trimming his feet differently & eventually putting special shoes has gotten him by for quite a while now.  The last time his shoes cost $140 & he's still lame, though.  I haven't been able to ride him for over a month since he's limping around without my weight.

As cold as it sounds, money is a consideration.  His shoeing is now more than the budget can handle easily & it doesn't seem to be doing any good.  The operation to 'nerve' him is expensive & often only lasts a year or two before the nerves grow back.  I might consider it if only his heel was sore, but the vet says both of his hooves would have to be numbed - the entire hoof in both cases - & that's very dangerous.  Stumbling becomes a real issue & breaking a leg becomes more likely.  I don't want to have to shoot my pony because he broke a leg playing in the field.

We're going to try some more, but our days of riding around the farm & swimming in the pond are coming to an end, probably over, even at a walk.  A horse that's constantly in pain is a misery, so we'll have to put him down soon.  Sad days...