Assessing Your Horse's Gait
Lameness can be quite simply described as any alteration in your horse’s gait.
A lameness exam begins by gathering your horse’s medical and farriery history and work/exercise routine through a series of questions, conversations, and previous medical records.
Next, our veterinarians will conduct a visual inspection of your horse to assess conformation and balance. This includes evaluating the horse's overall body condition, posture, and symmetry. Additionally, we will observe the horse at rest to identify any obvious abnormalities or asymmetries.
Our goal is always to help your horse recover fully and return to their normal activities as soon as possible while minimizing any risk of further injury.
What is Involved in a Lameness Evaluation?
Our vets conduct an examination of your horse’s limbs, joints, and muscles. They will check for heat, swelling, or tenderness and assess the range of motion in each joint.
Further diagnostics may be required, including nerve blocking with a local anesthetic to pinpoint the origin of the lameness. Once the cause of the lameness has been identified, our vets will work with you to develop a treatment plan tailored to your horse’s specific needs. This may include rest, medication, physical therapy, or surgery.
Our goal is to help your horse recover as quickly and safely as possible so that they can return to their normal activities.
The Optimal Environment For Lameness Exams
The ideal conditions for lameness evaluations change depending on the horse. For performance horses, we may need a flat, hard surface.
An arena is preferred and we may need you to ride your horse so we can evaluate them under saddle, so please have your boots and helmet ready.
For older, geriatric horses or those with severe conditions, we may be able to perform a much more simple evaluation such as watching them walk.