Animals: Red Rufus

Red Rufus was diagnosed with Navicular disease in his forelegs in July 1998. A guarded prognosis was given and therapeutic shoeing, NSAID's, isoxuprine medication and controlled exercise were advised to alleviate the condition as much as possible. When we first saw him in July 2000 he had been permanently lame for 2 years, with no improvement on this regime.

Two months after his first course of EFT he began to trot across his field and was standing on his forelegs to kick out at the other horses. This was highly unusual, as not only was he putting a lot more weight on the affected limbs, but there were also obvious changes in his temperament. He had become more confident - approaching his owner without waiting for one of the other horses to show him the way. He seemed happier, whereas he had appeared depressed before and was also asserting himself with the other horses rather than being submissive.

Three months after the second treatment he was sound when walking and trotting on level ground, even though his anti-inflammatory medication had been halved. On several occasions he had even ran, played and bucked with the other horses, which he had never done when he was on his medication. He would still become obviously lame during circling or whenever he tried to negotiate inclines. His owner is planning to schedule more EFT, which would undoubtedly help him further. His progress could have been even better than this if he had had more courses of therapy at regular intervals, but unfortunately this has not been practical.