One shudders to think how many horses in recent years have been put down for being ‘navicular’. Trimming to the wild horse shape is found to easily relieve what many believe is an “incurable condition”. This has been proven time and time again.
As we already mentioned, if your horse’s heels are under-run, their landing is too far forward. The pressure on the navicular bone is brought directly underneath it, rather than behind it. The problem is completely mechanical.
Navicular points to an inflammation of the impar ligament that holds the bone in place. The pain causes the horse to wear away the bone. This is serious. But over wearing of the navicular bone is not a sign of disease. It’s a sign of incorrect hoof shape.
Barefoot virtuoso, Pete Ramey says this…
“It is a simple fact that I have never seen a “navicular horse” fail to be completely healed under my care.”
As he then points out, you can attack the problem with regular trimming and observation. So follow the methods in this book. It will restore health to your horse’s heels, bringing them back into place.
As you back up the toe and shorten the heel, your horse will slowly land heel first with greater consistency. With that, the pain should disappear.
It’s a crying shame. Many of today’s ‘navicular horses’ will still endure a lifetime of painkillers, until inevitably, the pain becomes too much. Once again, we can learn from the wild where navicular pain is virtually unknown.