How Your Veterinarian Can Help With Lameness
Lameness is a common problem in horses, affecting both young and old equines. Although lameness isn't always the result of a serious injury or condition, changes in your horse's gait or movement are a cause for concern. Fortunately, your veterinarian can determine why your horse is lame and offer effective treatments.
Lameness Causes and Symptoms
Every horse is at risk for lameness at some point in its life. When surveyed about lameness by the American Farrier's Journal, U.S. farriers reported a 24% lameness rate in horses they encountered throughout the year.
Limping is a sure sign your horse is lame, but lameness signs aren't always obvious. If standing, walking, or trotting becomes painful, you may see one or more of these signs:
- Gait Changes
- Head Bobbing
- Toe Pointing
- Shortened Stride
- Dragging Hooves
- Shuffling Feet
- Shifting Weight
- Swelling
- Hot Spots on Legs
- Hip Hike (One hip is higher than the other.)
- Behavioral Changes
Signs can be constant or intermittent. If your horse only experiences pain when performing a certain action, like cantering or trotting, it may refuse to canter or trot.
Lameness has many causes, including:
- Wounds
- Arthritis and Other Orthopedic Diseases
- Muscle Pain
- Hip or Back Conditions
- Nerve Damage
- Hoof Abscesses
- Fractured Bones
- Joint Infections
- Laminitis
- Tendon or Ligament Injuries
- Poor Conformation
- Poor Hoof Balance
- Bruised Soles
- Shoeing Issues
How Your Veterinarian Diagnoses and Treats Lameness
Your veterinarian will want to know about the changes in you've seen in your horse and any recent injuries or illnesses, in addition to information about when lameness signs first appeared.
Veterinarians diagnose conditions that cause lameness by examining your horse and watching the way it moves when it canters, walks, and trots. Flexion tests can be helpful in identifying the problem limb. After bending a joint for a minute or two, your veterinarian watches your horse walk and looks for gait changes and other signs of lameness.
Applying gentle pressure to the hoof with a hoof tester helps your veterinarian determine if a hoof abscess could be the reason for lameness. Nerve blocks offer another way to find out which part of your horse's body hurts. Numbing specific parts of the body helps your veterinarian rule in or rule out potential causes of lameness.
Other diagnostic tests, including X-rays, thermography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, may be needed to determine why your horse is lame. Veterinarians may recommend a ultrasound scan if they suspect your horse may have injured a ligament or tendon.
Treatment of lameness depends on the cause, but may include:
- Rest. Your veterinarian may suggest stall rest or limiting your horse's movement to allow time for healing. Prolonged rest isn't usually recommended and may actually slow healing. After an initial period of rest, you'll need to gradually reintroduce exercise.
- Medication. Drugs that treat inflammation, infection, and pain may be helpful in treating lameness in some cases. PetMD notes that anti-inflammatories should be a short-term treatment option, as these medications can cause colic and gastric ulcers.
- Shoeing Changes. If a hoof imbalance caused lameness, your veterinarian may recommend consulting a farrier to trim the hooves or make shoeing changes.
- Joint Injections. Injecting corticosteroids, hyaluronic acids, and other medications into a joint reduces inflammation and pain and may improve joint function.
- Regenerative Therapies. Your veterinarian may recommend regenerative therapies, such as platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy, stem cell injections, shockwave therapy, or autologous serum therapy. These therapies help your horse's body repair damaged tissues.
- Surgery. Veterinarians use surgery to repair arthritic joints, treat severe soft tissue injuries, and repair some types of fractures.
Determining why your horse is lame can be challenging. Fortunately, your veterinarian can pinpoint the source of the pain and help your horse get back on its feet again. Contact our office to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
American Farrier's Journal: Results from Our Equine Lameness Survey, 11/21/2019
https://www.americanfarriers.com/articles/11373-results-from-our-equine-lameness-survey?v=preview
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Veterinary Medicine: Equine Foot Pain: Treatment Options, 3/6/2019
https://vetmed.illinois.edu/2019/03/06/equine-foot-pain-treatment-options/
American College of Veterinary Surgeons: Lameness in Horses
https://www.acvs.org/large-animal/lameness-in-horses/
Horse & Hound: Lameness in horses: what every owner needs to know, 11/13/2019
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care/vet-advice/lameness-in-horses-700293
Merck Veterinary Manual: Overview of Lameness in Horses, 11/2024
PetMD: Lameness in Horses, 9/29/2022
https://www.petmd.com/horse/conditions/musculoskeletal/lameness-horses