Lameness In Equine Essay

The 2013 Brakke survey revealed that 85 percent of respondents are recreational horse owners, compared with 86 percent in 2009. More noticeable, in 2013 30 percent of horse owners were participants in competitive horse events, a 6 percentage point decline from 2009. With so many people using and having horses for their recreational purposes, the amount of illness/disorders is overwhelming. One of the foremost disorders in equine is lameness. During this year's National Equine Health Survey, otherwise known as NEHS, 38 percent of horses were recorded as suffering from health problems and of these, a third-32.9 percent were categorized as lame.
With lameness being so well known in the equine world, it would be good to know exactly what it is. Lameness is specified as “an abnormal stance

The most common signs include the head nod associated with forelimb lameness, and the hip hike, or sacral rise, that comes with hindlimb lameness. Other signs and symptoms include limping, an inability to turn smoothly, holding a foot up, not lifting hooves, dragging a toe, standing imbalanced and a slower performance. Another symptom to look for is a shift in weight from one foot to the other or standing with the legs out wide. The horse’s good leg will bear more weight, which can be identified by that side being lower in the

This will often include box rest. Your horse may need to rest for a few days for something like a simple sprain, but for a more serious injury, it may require weeks or even months. Resting your horse will place less demand on the injured area, whereas continued use would cause more harm, even permanently. A horse going lame can be scary, but with proper identification of the cause and the appropriate rest and treatment, your horse should be able to return back to