It may help the vet to know precisely where the object has gone in the hoof and if you pull the pin out this critical part of the history may be lost.Ĥ. If a horse has had something penetrate the hoof, talk to your veterinarian before pulling out the nail or the wire. If you have treated the horse with anti-inflammatory drugs such as phenylbutazone, confinement is especially important as the medicines give some pain relief which will allow the horse to move around more and could lead to aggravation of the damage.ģ. The first aid will prevent further damage and allow the repair process to begin to work effectively.Ģ. The basic principle for first aid for lameness is rest and confinement. Surfaces the horse has been worked on.Change in the degree of lameness with work.The history of the equine lameness is very important to the veterinarian in making a diagnosis of the cause. Swelling from a bony enlargement or soft tissue damage from a knock.Once you have found which leg the horse is lame in you may be able to find the reason for the lameness.ġ0. The hindquarter will rise higher than the other side.ĩ. It may step short in the lame leg, but the best way of finding out which is the lame leg is to watch the horse trot away from you. The horse’s head down during taking weight if he had sore on hindlimb. Hindlimb lameness is harder to determine than lameness in forelimb problems as head nodding may not be visible.Ĩ. Sometimes lunging a horse will demonstrate lameness that is not evident in a straight line and riding on a soft surface rather than a hard surface may show different degrees of lameness.ħ. If the horse is sore in both forelimbs, it will have a hard property action.Ħ. When its lame leg hits the ground, the head goes up, and when the good leg takes the weight, the head goes down.ĥ. It is important that the horse trots on a loose rein so its head can move up and down.Ĥ. Most lameness is best seen at a trot with the observer watching from the side as a horse trots past you. If the horse is on the trot on a hard surface, you may hear the difference in the way it puts the hoof to the ground when bearing weight on the lame leg.ģ. A lame horse may have a short gait, feel uneven when ridden or nod its head up and down when walked or trot.Ģ.

Seek immediate veterinary attention for a horse that is severely lame and can hardly move or a mild lameness that persists for more than a few days.ġ. Racing predisposes to knee chips while pleasure riding often leads to stone bruises and horse worked on firm surfaces are more likely to have the navicular disease -thesewill affect young growing horses, such as shin soreness or locking patellas, rarely trouble adult horses.Įarly recognition of lameness is important to prevent further damage and pain to the horse by continued work and to allow early treatment of the cause of the lameness. Different types of horseback riding also predispose to different equine lameness problems. Ponies, for example, are predisposed to laminitis/founder, standardbreds are predisposed to hock problems and quarter horses are predisposed to ringbone. Lame Horse -Predisposing Factorsĭifferent horse breeds have different predispositions for the lame horse. In the hind limbs, 80 percent of the lameness comes from the hock or stifle. Most lameness affects the forelimbs, and 90 percent of the problems come from the knee and below. In many cases, a lame horse will require rest and a considerable spell to allow for repair of the damaged tissues. It is a sign that your horse has an injury that causes pain when it moves or places weight on that leg. Lameness is a problem for all horse owners at some stage.

Lame horse