Navicular syndrome is one of the most common causes of chronic lameness in horses, and its management reflects the complex intersection of welfare, performance expectations, and owner economics.
Navicular syndrome creates a welfare tension between pain management and performance expectations. Horses with well-managed navicular disease can have acceptable welfare; those kept in demanding work with inadequate pain control experience chronic suffering. The use of nerve blocks to mask pain rather than manage it allows horses to compete while experiencing the underlying pathology — a practice with serious welfare implications. Honest assessment of each horse's welfare, including willingness to retire horses from high-impact work, is central to equine welfare in performance settings.