Navicular degeneration: the prognosis barefoot

Last week I posted about Alicia's podcast, the Humble Hoof, which you can find via that link or on any of the usual places (iTunes, Spotify,Podcast Player for Android, Stitcher etc).  It was great speaking to her about rehabilitation but one of the nicest aspects was that she also spoke to a number of people whose horses had been here and included their experiences of rehabilitating a horse barefoot from serious injury. 

With perfect timing over the weekend I saw these great photos of Felix, who came here in 2014 with a diagnosis on MRI of navicular bone degeneration, who has returned to a successful career eventing and hunting.

As you can see, he is on fantastic form and has been absolutely flying over the past few years.  Keeping a horse at this level requires a huge amount of hard work and he is an absolute credit to Sophie's dedication and ongoing care.

What really stands out for me though, both when I see photos like these or when I listen to Alicia's podcast, is how fantastic it is that these owners are spreading the word that a "navicular" diagnosis is not necessarily the end for the horse. Not only that, with barefoot rehabilitation it is perfectly possible for the horse to be happy and sound for years and years to come.

Its something I have seen time and time again both with my own horses and with the horses who come here for rehabilitation but we do still need to be getting the message out there!