From: Melissa
Dear Jessica,
First of all, thank you for all of the teriffic information that you provide! I was just told about this site by a friend and find I can't wait to read all of the new Q & A's. I very much appreciate your approach to the 'horse' world and your obvious love for and intelligence of the creature. I have a question for you, regarding Navicular Disease. I have not been very familiar with this problem in horses, and spent many hours online reading about it from different sources. I realize that this is a very difficult subject, with many variables. I grew up with horses, and always knew that there was more to just 'riding' and 'teaching' a horse. But never knew quite how to express what I felt or knew what to do with it.
I came from an abusive background, and so did my Quarter/Thoroughbred horse. When I was 18, my dad without telling me sold my horse. He was the greatest horse ever, my best friend. It quite literaly broke my heart. I am now 34, and have had nothing to do with horses since. I could never quite deal with it. Well, now I am taking my 6 yr. old daughter to a wonderful Equine Center for riding lessons. I have read your letters on all the important things to look for, and the major importance of safety. This barn is fantastic! Well, this has opened my heart back up, and now the fire is blazing again. We are looking to buy an acreage in about 1 yr. I just can't stand to be without a horse any longer!
A horse at this Barn caught my eye from day one. More than my eye, my heart! He is magnificant! Apendix Quarter Horse, but about 90% Thoroughbred. He is beautiful, and his spirit radiates through his whole body. I find myself thinking of him all day! He is one of those rare equines that just grabs your heart. The good news, his owner is thinking of selling him. The bad news, he has Navicular Disease! He was trained from a colt to be a Hunter. He wins everything. But the hoof problem has stopped him from showing and jumping. He is 12 yrs old. They caught it very early on, and they did Neurectomy surgery, and cut the nerve. I have seen him run, buck, and just be wild. He doesn't appear to be lame at all, or favor that foot.
They bought this horse in Michigan 5 yrs. ago for $25,000.00. The owner is asking $3500 - 3000.00. I am not interested im compitition. I want a great all-around horse, one that I can also ride in mountains on. In future, indurance riding interests me. Please, can you give me any opinion here? From all I have read, this Disease, i.e...symptom... is hard to diagnose the details, and one cannot really say what each horse will be like in the future. There seem to be many variables that can only be studied out by the exrays taken. I do not have all those details as of yet. So what are the chances of having a good horse for many years? Or is he limited to one or two years? Can he be ridden with confidence, or will he be stumbling over his foot? Can they live a long life with this, or is he certain for a short life only to have to be put down? I do not want to pay that price for a 'lame' horse, and certainly do not want to get attached to him, more than already. Can you help me with this? Of all the horses I have been around, he is so amazing I cannot get over him. But I don't want to make a big mistake either. I am sensible, and know when to say no. But in this case I am confused. So, please give me some of your insight, I really need it right now, and I need as many facts as possible.
I am going to the Center in a couple days, and the owner said I could ride him anytime. I am afraid to do that though, it will only make the decision worse. Please, I am in need of your knowledge and experience!
Thank you very much, Melissa
Hi Melissa! If you've talked to a veterinarian, as you no doubt have by now, you already know what I'm going to say: don't buy this horse. He's not an endurance prospect, he's not a hunter or jumper prospect, and I wouldn't even want to send him down an easy trail.
His owners may have "caught the disease early", but it isn't cured and it's not going to be cured. What has happened is this: the problem is still there and still getting worse, but the horse can no longer feel the pain.
Don't get me wrong: I'm not against the procedure. I have an elderly retired mare living in a pasture, and if she had navicular disease and her feet hurt her, I would certainly consider "nerving" as a reasonably alternative to putting her down. I would also realize that her feet would have to be checked several times a day, because she could pick up a nail or some other sharp object without realizing it, and get an infected foot. Riding wouldn't be an issue as she's already retired. If she were an active RIDING horse, it would be another story: "nerving" her would also mean retiring her. Taking away the feeling in a horse's foot leaves it more susceptible to injury, makes it more likely that the horse will stumble or trip on uneven or rocky ground, and makes the rider more susceptible to injury as well.
If all of your riding will be done on a soft arena surface, then you might elect to purchase this horse. If you plan to ride outdoors, on trails, etc., I would strongly advise against it. As for endurance -- please don't even think about it! Endurance horses have to be almost as sure-footed as mules, and they have to cope with all sorts of footing and all sorts of terrain.
They also have to be able to jump on occasion -- every endurance rider, whether competing or practicing, is going to find a log across the path at some point. Endurance horses have to be able to feel their feet so that they can know precisely where they are putting them down, and so that they can shift instantly if a foot goes down onto a surface that is too sharp (a rock, for instance) or likely to move (shale, for instance). They need to know when they are stepping into a hole -- they need to be fully aware of where every bit of their hooves are going at every moment. None of this is possible for a horse that has had a neurectomy.
The price the horse sold for when he was young and sound is entirely irrelevant -- don't be impressed by it, and don't let it twist your thinking. You can go to any racetrack auction and find beautifully Thoroughbreds that were originally purchased for much, much more than that -- but, now that they're injured and unsound, are worth a dollar a pound (or whatever the current price of horsemeat happens to be). If it helps, try to think of the horse in the same way that you'd think of a car! Let's say that someone offered you a twelve-year-old car that sold for $35,000 when it was new. The owner is asking "only" $3000 (or $300) for it now, and it's shiny and pretty and the leather upholstery is in great shape. The only problem is that the frame is cracked, and the car is unsafe. Would you buy it? I don't think so. And if you DID, you would come to your senses at some point and ask yourself "What was I thinking???" If you knew that you couldn't trust the car at speed, on hilly roads, on rough roads, would you still want it?
The difference between the horse and the car is that you might be sad about losing the money you spent on the car, but you wouldn't be crying over the car itself (well, you might be, but that's another letter!). Or, if you were extremely wealthy and extremely eccentric, you might be able to pay a lot of money to have the body and engine attached to a new frame. It wouldn't be worth it, but it might be possible...
With the horse, you have no such options, no matter how wealthy or eccentric you happen to be. You can't fix this horse's feet. All you can do is what's already been done: take away his ability to know that they hurt, and take away his ability to know exactly what he's stepping on. This stops the pain, but it does NOT stop the progression of the disease.
You've seen the horse run, buck, and so on without favoring the foot -- that's the whole point of cutting the nerves! He can't feel it, he doesn't know that it hurts, so of course he's not going to favor it. Humans with diabetic neuropathy can put their hands or feet onto broken glass or hot stoves without feeling pain -- but their ability to get cut or burned hasn't changed. If anything, it's worse, because they no longer have the nerves that would cause them to jerk the foot or hand out of the danger zone. They have to be terribly attentive to their extremities, always watching hands and feet for any sign of injury. Your horse will need the same attention, but he won't be able to do this for himself, so that will be your job.
I suggest that you talk to a veterinarian who specializes in navicular disease -- AND to a veterinarian who works with a lot of endurance horses.
Talk to a good farrier: again, preferably one who works with a lot of endurance horses. Call the various organizations that regulate long distance riding competitions, and ask experienced riders whether they would be willing to risk themselves on "nerved" horses -- and whether they would be willing to risk the horses as well.
If you're still in love with the horse and don't care if you can only ride him in on the flat in a soft arena, please have him thoroughly checked by your vet (do not use his owner's vet -- use your instructor's vet if you don't have one of your own). Have the horse taken to a veterinary clinic for a full set of foot and lower-leg x-rays, and get the horse's earlier x-rays so that your vet will be able to see how quickly the horse's condition is deteriorating. If, after all that, the vet thinks that the horse will be suitable for limited riding on a suitable surface, and you're happy with that idea, you can think about buying the horse. If the vet does NOT think that the horse will be suitable, or if you're looking for a long-term horse that you can keep and ride and enjoy (that "all-around" horse you wanted to ride in the mountains), then KEEP LOOKING. You may decide that the horse is worth buying -- or you may decide that the horse wouldn't be worth accepting as a gift.
I know that this is probably not the answer you wanted, but it's the only one I can offer. There are people who will subject such horses to repeated surgeries and continue to ride them hard, even jumping them, but those people are acting in a stupid and unethical way, and they are making a conscious decision to endanger the horses and their riders. I don't think that you'll be happy putting yourself and the horse at risk riding in the mountains; I don't think you'll be happy limiting your riding to walking and trotting in perfectly-groomed arenas, and I'm reasonably sure that you don't want to buy a horse that has great potential as a pasture potato. And unless there's a medical miracle in the next few years, I don't think there's a fourth choice. Even if you could wave a wand and make the navicular disappear, the horse would still have been nerved, and that's (if you're ethical) every bit as limiting as the disease itself.
Good luck. Please let me know what happens.
Jessica
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