In some cases, the cause of lameness will be relatively easy to determine based on a physical examination and short trot-up. However, in many cases, a more prolonged and detailed examination will be required.
Horses referred to BEVC by a veterinary surgeon and second opinion cases will be subjected to a detailed examination of the entire musculoskeletal system. The physical examination will be followed by an in-depth orthopaedic evaluation including walking, trotting, lunging on soft and hard surfaces and ridden exercise as appropriate.
We also have the availability of an objective gait analysis system, which measures the horse’s symmetry when moving at trot. Sensors are placed on the head-collar, withers, back and pelvis of your horse and measurements are be taken during the normal orthopaedic evaluation. Use of the gait analysis system can be performed at any orthopaedic evaluation and if deemed to be useful, will be offered to you and your horse.
A few helpful hints for owners who are bringing in their horses for a lameness evaluation
- Pain killing medications such as bute (equipalazone) or danilon should not be given in the last 4 days prior to the work up.
- Your horse should be presented well shod and shoes SHOULD NOT be removed prior to a lameness evaluation. It is not possible to properly evaluate horses which are poorly shod or without shoes when they are normally shod, as foot soreness, particularly on hard surfaces, could complicate the clinical picture and not give a true representation of the lameness. Where possible, no farriery should be performed on your horse’s feet in the week prior to the visit. Any of the above mentioned could impair our ability to accurately diagnose the origin of a lameness. That said, owners should be aware that if the lameness is localised to the foot and radiographs are required, the horse’s shoes will usually be removed after trotting up and before radiography
- Try to ensure that your horse is noticeably lame on the day of the visit as nerve / joint blocks cannot be performed on sound horses. Mildly lame horses may need to be worked for several days prior to the examination in order to be lame enough for a meaningful lameness evaluation to be performed. If you have any concerns regarding working your horse, please speak to your referring vet for.
- Box Rest will sometimes have been recommended prior to your appointment at the hospital. Please inform the office at the time of booking and speak to tyour vet if this is the case, as rest and a new environment can mask a lameness in a fresh, excited horse.
- Please bring your tack in order to see your horse move under saddle (especially in cases of mild hind leg lameness, poor performance or problems performing particular movements)
- Owners are welcome to stay during the work up if they wish, but due to lameness investigations often being lengthy, it may be preferable to leave the horse at the clinic and collect later the same day or the following day when investigations and any treatments are completed.
If you have a horse with a lameness or poor performance issues, please call the clinic to discuss the best approach to allow further investigations into these problems.
How long will might it take and do I need to be there?
If your horse is lame enough, nerve and/or joint blocks will be performed, which can be very time consuming, but are often necessary to identify the origin of a horse’s lameness.
On busy days 2 – 4 lameness evaluations might be performed simultaneously and the vet will go back and forth to work on the different horses. Because of the time consuming nature of the work-up, your horse is likely to have to stay at the clinic for the entire day.
The presence of the owner, however, is usually not required for the entire day and you are more than welcome to leave your horse at the clinic for the day and we’ll keep you up to date by telephone. Most horses will be able to go home later the same day, although in some cases the examination may need to be continued on another day.