So a year ago i had a mare who was diagnosed as a mild navicular bursitis in her right front hoof. After speaking to the vet when we gained the diagnosis the vet firmly believes this had to happen due to years of this mare pawing (it was a bad habit even when i bought her and shes 14 now.) The vet said rest is what she needs. The vet didn't see a problem with her running down the road but it probably only once a month or so. Running barrels is not my concern. But i would love to trail ride on her more then anything. This mare has been out in a pasture for over a year now. She runs around like nothing is wrong and i know she misses having a job. She has always been a hard working mare who hates sitting. I guess my question is would starting her back into work like trails hurt? I have ridden her twice so far and shes done amazing. I have considered trying her on barrels and only run her like once a month for fun. I am in contact with a farrier about having special shoeing done on her. Also i have been hearing from others that an osphos injection helps a ton? Should i look more into that for her? I do have an appointment at the LSU vet clinic to make sure she is good to go. 

Has anyone else had a horse be able to continue working even if its just trails when they were diagnosed as navicular bursitis? I apologize if this is an easy answer. This is very new to me and this mare means the world to me and it pains me to see her miserable just sitting around. 

Did the vet offer to inject the navicular bursa !?!  It can work wonders. Since my horse foundered from a steroid shot , I am never injecting a horse again with a steroid , but there are some great options out there like IRAP, PRP, and the like that are steroid free. 

Does your mare have navicular changes in the bone, or just inflammation in the bursa? 

I have an older horse who had chronic navicular bursitis for about a year and a half that was only mildly responsive to injections. I turned him out with the same advice you received (rest/tincture of time), and he would come back sound for spells; I'd work him very lightly, and in a few weeks he'd go back to being off. I finally splurged for the MRI to get some answers, and it ended up being a tear in his DDFT down in the foot. With Renovo and a long rehab plan, he is nearly back in full work. The only reason I bring this up is because I wish I'd dug deeper to find the source of the inflammation from the start. If you have the opportunity to get that kind of imagery, that would clarify if you have a bone or soft tissue injury, since the treatments can vary. That would also dictate when and how you can get her back to work without risk of re-injury. Prayers for a complete recovery! 

I guess I am confused. This vet basically told you to retire her and didn't give you any treatment options???

What exact diagnostics did he do? Xray? Ultrasound? MRI?

I have two horses with navicular problems, one is more bursitis because his xrays are completely clean. He is 15 this year and I honestly think I have him feeling the best he ever has. I still barrel race on him (but selectively only where I know he will like the ground and when there is added money) and I actually jump him a little too (he absolutely loves it). He gets coffin joints injections once a year (I usually do them in the spring). He is on daily Equioxx during the competition season. He gets a 3 degree wedge pad on his front feet with shoes (barefoot on back). He gets regular chiro visits. I bought a PEMF system so I can treat him reguluarly at home. And I think what has been the biggest game changer for him is putting him on Pentosan. I gave him the loading dose and then kept him on it every 2 weeks. It took a couple months, but he is no longer stiff to warm up and he doesn't have that little hitch in his trot anymore. I never miss giving him a dose. One time, I went 3 weeks and I noticed! (He did respond to Adequan too, but that's too expensive to give every 2 weeks ... and he actually responded BETTER to the pentosan)

So with proper management, I don't see any reason why your mare can't return to the barrel pen. You just got to get her back to feeling good.

Here's my guy taking 4th place at a barrel race this summer, about 70 entries. He isn't consistent 1D but he likes to lay one down once in a while.

And here he is flying over a jump, where he won Grand Champion in the division.

My other one I was bringing back from a hock infection 2 years ago. He wasn't being ridden real hard because of that, which he was actually doing well on, but I wasn't doing as much for his front feet and he did start to get bothered by it by the end of the year,  so I will have to add some more things for him. I don't plan to race him but he's a doll for my 5 year old daughter, so I want to keep him feeling good for her to ride.

Osphos gave me another two years or right at it with my horse on barrels.