How to Detect Lameness in Horse
Clues about lameness in horses can be subtle, and it is important to detect these signs of lameness in horses soon for a speedy recovery. Here are six signs of lameness in horses to detect lameness in your horse.
In this video, Dr. Eduardo De La Cruz of Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center (LBEMC) located in Northern California. I will give you ways to detect a limp:
1) Observe your horse’s feet
- Watch how your horse stands and whether he habitually points a front foot. Also watch for frequent weight-shifting up front.
- Look at the feet themselves. When one foot hurts more than the other, it’ll often be smaller. It’s also often more prone to thrush because the horse will try to avoid putting full weight on that foot.
2) Look for nonspecific signs
- Changes in sweating, breathing, or pulse. If your horse sweats more than normal for the weather and level of work, suspect pain as the cause. He may also be breathing harder and have a higher pulse.
- Decreased play and/or movement. Showing resistance or reluctance to move as usual is your horse’s way of telling you something’s wrong.
3) Watch your horse move
- Watch your horse move in a circle, going both directions, first free of tack, then with tack but no rider, and finally tacked up with a rider.
- Does your horse flex all joints evenly? Watch his fetlocks when each foot contacts the ground. Are they dropping the same amount on both sides? If not, he’s not carrying his weight evenly from side to side. The fetlock that drops the most is taking more of the weight.
4) Listen to his footsteps
- Learn to “see with your ears.” When moving your horse on a hard surface, you’ll be able to hear subtle differences in how hard he’s landing. - Close your eyes, and concentrate on listening to the sound of his feet striking the ground. Each footfall should be as loud as the others, and you should hear an even rhythm.
5) Feel the clues under the saddle
- You can pick up important lameness clues when you’re in the saddle. Do you feel a relaxed sway at the walk or does your horse’s back feel rigid? If rigid, there’s pain somewhere. When you post the trot, does your horse throw you evenly on both diagonals? If not, the side with the weak thrust may be hurting. Does he take both canter leads evenly? If he’s resisting a lead, suspect the hind leg on that side. Reluctance to turn to either direction suggests pain in a leg to the inside of that turn.
6) Look at the whole horse.
- Observe your horse from the front, sides, and back when someone is at his head and he’s standing squarely. Look for any differences in how well your horse is muscled from side to side. You’ll often see smaller, less well-defined muscles if there’s pain in the associated leg. Localized areas of muscle tension (muscles will feel hard) are also commonly found when a horse is hurting somewhere.
- Check your horse’s feet. When there are longstanding painful conditions in a front leg, the hoof on the painful side will often be smaller than the opposite front. When painful conditions involve the front or back legs, you may see shoes/hoof walls wear more quickly on the comfortable side than the sore one, and wear patterns may be different.
These 6 signs of lameness in horses will give you clues as to the condition of your horse's lameness and will often help you recover faster and more safely.
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