Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

With lameness being on of the most common reasons for a visit to the veterinarian, there is a high demand for reliable lameness evaluations. Nowadays, these include both the subjective visual assessment, as well as the more recently developed objective quantification. Visual assessment includes several different parts where the veterinarian observes the horse in motion. This includes the different gaits, with the walk and the trot being the most common ones due to them being symmetrical. Additionally, the horse is observed on the lunge, where asymmetries might be enhanced, and after the use of techniques such as flexion tests and diagnostic analgesia, which is used to locate the source of pain. To help with communication concerning the severity of the lameness, there are several grading scales in use, though neither of them is universally accepted. There has also been published a pain ethogram specifically for the ridden horse, though this has been criticised for yet being too vague and in need of development before it is ready to be applied in clinical situations. The visual lameness assessment has limitations, including disagreement between different veterinarians regarding lameness severity and which limb is primarily lame, as well as the possibility for inherent laterality in the horse and compensational lameness. In more recent years, different systems for objective quantification of lameness have been developed, and while they have their own limitations, they offer the possibility bridge the gaps in the subjective visual assessment by complementing it. This gets us closer to the goal of accurate lameness evaluation that leads to effective treatment of this so frequently seen issue.