Navicular disease can be a very difficult entity to diagnose. Radiographs are not the bottom line. Many horses will have pretty good X rays and still show the navicular symptoms, while others will have terrible X rays and be sound. Some recent information from Europe suggests that navicular disease (the current terminology is caudal heel syndrome, of which navicular disease would fit into this description) may involve other structures than the navicular bone and/or bursa. There are treatments for this syndrome. Our suggestion is to locate a competent farrier and veterinarian, those who specialize to some degree in these areas, and have them develop a protocol for treatment. This can obviously be a trial-and-error effort. The same protocol doesn't work on all horses, but many horses can be made serviceable without using bute except maybe on an as-needed basis.

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