So on Saturday , I took my 6 yr old gelding to a Equine lameness vet that specializes in legs and feet for a second opinion. I have been dealing with a lameness issue in his right front foot since December. First vet I took him to, did xrays of his fronts and said thins soles. Put shoes on and meds to bring inflammation down.. never got better. Got tired of getting the run around so I took for second opinion. Within about an hour of being there, the vet found it . He did a block in his heel and horse was sound after. Took xrays of bottom of his foot (in which the first vet did not) and found it. He is a bit clubby in his right foot. Very hard to tell but has caused him to be in the very beginning stages of navicular. Not the news I wanted. I literally wanted to lay down and cry. Vet suggested he be put in egg bar shoes, good joint formula and Osphos injection and a week of Previcoxx. Before anyone ask, he didn't want him in a light weight shoe with wedge due to the clubbiness of his foot and changing angles when you wedge a club foot. He told me he was barely a grade 1 in lameness. This horse has never refused to do anything. It was just that small limp. Anyways, I asked the vet if he'd be ok for barrel racing and he said he didn't suggest it. He suggested he be a pleasure or ranch horse. I'm still a little confused as to why he would say this as he had said everything he had going on was very mild, corrective shoeing and Osphos would help him. I know for a fact a number of people who barrel race with way more advanced navicular horses and they do great. The only reason I can figure he said this is he is a track vet who works on multi million dollar horses and he was just protecting himself. Rather than saying sure he's fine to run and something happening and me coming back on him. I've been up and down all week over this. We have put him in corrective shoes on Monday and as of today, the limp is 99 % gone. So I'm just confused as I've never dealt with this before. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated 

In my experience club foot was actually from the other foot.  They dont want to put as much weight on the side that clubs and therefore it looks like a true club foot.  Most vets will say navicular because pain in the heels. 

For whatever reason your horse not comfortable on his feet.  Changing shoes usually (not always) only helps for a little bit and you will be right back where you started and therefore circle starts again. 

It could also be caused by back feet and making the front feet sore.  Alot of vets will overlook the backs.  Since you are in the early stages if you can figure the actual cause and fix that you will be fine. 

Ive had 2 horses that came to me looking like a club foot!  I fixed by going barefoot and doing myself trial and error.  I dont know how to tell you to fix with shoes.

im not saying you need to go barefoot or need to do your own.  You have to do research if you go this route. 

But you are in the early stages, research as much as you can and go with your gut feeling to help him.  It sounds like you just have heel pain and its coming from compensating since that foot looks cluby. 

My mom went to the NFR on a severely navicular horse. This was before all the modern advancements. Since you found it early, that's a good thing. If this horse makes a super nice barrel horse that doesn't need much of a tune up , I would proceed with training and only run him at the bigger rodeos / races that are worth it. Preferably on the best ground if possible. Use soft rides when your parked on hard dirt , in the trailer , etc. do everything you can for as long as you can. No need to give up yet. Vets won't even call a horse sound on a pre purchase anymore. They will always find something wrong and advise this or that. It does cover liability. If this vet said you could run him and he got worse then you could say he said it was ok. I'm sure you get the drift. Lol. 

Funny you say that about pre purchase exams... the vet I saw on him last weekend for 2nd opinion said he would not have passed him and I was also told by another individual that knows their stuff most vets on pre purchase won't pass many because of liability and they rack up the dollars on unnecessary test as well...

It's not about passing or failing a horse on PPE, it's about scrutinizing the horse and being forthright with the prospective buyers on anything the vet might find. PPE's are one of the biggest reasons vets get sued, so of course they're going to tell you everything they find and it's your call as the buyer to decide from there if you want to take those issues on. Some vets are crooked and perform unnecessary tests, but for most vets it's about looking at the whole horse and making sure the buyer is making an informed decision.

X-ray will not show what could be happening with soft tissures.  Save a lot of time and money by getting a MRI.