By Kirsten Henderson

The diagnosis and resolution of lameness is critical to a horse’s life. Unfortunately, it’s all too common to see a horse limping down the equine ward of the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s (WCVM) Large Animal Clinic, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

When there are no obvious external lesions that could explain a horse’s lameness, flexion tests and local anesthesia (or nerve blocks) are two of the main tools that veterinarians use to determine the source of pain.

However, researchers are learning that nerve blocks might not always provide the most accurate information