Navicular disease (caudal heel pain) is one of the most common causes of forelimb lameness in horses, causing chronic pain that requires careful management and welfare-centered decision-making.
Navicular disease presents a chronic welfare challenge because it affects working animals whose value is often measured by performance capacity. The temptation to maintain horses in work by suppressing pain symptoms rather than addressing the underlying condition creates significant welfare compromise. Horses cannot communicate the distinction between acceptable discomfort and unacceptable pain. Welfare-centered management focuses on reducing pain through appropriate trimming, shoeing, medication, and workload modification — accepting that some horses require retirement from performance work.