Your veterinarian already has the ability to localize subtle lameness in your horses: tools to perform effective diagnostic and therapeutic nerve blocking, digital radiographs (X rays), and ultrasound. So why bother considering magnetic resonance imag­ing (MRI) as well?

Just as physicians use MRI to evaluate human athletes for injury, veterinarians can use it to closely examine an area of con­cern on a horse and gather invaluable information about injuries that is unobtainable with any other technique or technology.