Dutch Warmblood

Question
I have a 17.1 dutch warmblood, who has not been ridden for two months due to having navicular. The navicular is controlled by Bute and he has showed little signs of pain until throwing a shoe.

He has not had corrective shoeing, I am arranging for a farrier to shoe him with egg bar shoes as I am now going to ride him.

As he has not been ridden for a while, how do I get to able to ride him on light hacks regularly, obviously providing that his navicular is managed and controlled.

Thanks

Amanda  

Answer
Hi Amanda,
First thing first. Get the corrective shoeing done, then I would start excersising him in the round pen with for about 15 minutes to start.  Keep him on softer ground and see if he comes back sore, if he is sore for this light excersise, he will certainly come back sore with weight on him.  Long toes are really a problem with navicular horses so you are going to have to stay on top of his farrier care with shoeing every 4 weeks.  Becareful with the bute ~ as long term and continued use can really irritate his stomic and cause other problems.  Stay off hard ground or rocky soil as you don't want to add to his problems. After a good two weeks of excersie in the round pen without rider weight, increasing his length of the work outs as he can take it ~before backing him.  Your going to have to taylor his excersie work outs to his needs and abilities.  Be smart and keep his well being and comfort first.  Legging him up is going to be very important as he has been off for a while.  This is an excellent way to be able to watch him closely and see if your long term goals are going to work well with his physical limitations.