Sultan has a problem with his Navicular Bone. While I was ensconsed in Ringwood School, Steve and Jo were exhausting themselves lunging and trotting Sultan up and down the yard.
The vet numbed Sultan's hoof and they ran him again, and his lameness disappeared, so the diagnosis is Navicular pain. Tomorrow Robert will come and bring a special horseshoe to lift his heel and change the angle of his front feet.
Theoretically the cause is impact and vibration over long periods and again, theoretically, it comes from the uneven camber of our roads. Sultan is 16 now, and the vet says his competition days are over. We had already decided that. He did say, however, that "traditional" work should pose no problem and the condition needs management, that is all.
It is good news, better than a diagnosis of bursitis in his shoulder and as long as we manage it carefully, Sultan should go on as long as he is otherwise fit and healthy.
Sultan has a problem with his Navicular Bone. While I was ensconsed in Ringwood School, Steve and Jo were exhausting themselves lunging and trotting Sultan up and down the yard.