Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of leg lameness
Barbaro’s death might lead one to think that despite the best veterinary care available, horses with severe leg injuries and/or laminitis are unrecoverable and should be immediately destroyed. But one equine veterinarian says that couldn’t be further
About a year and a half ago, my horse was diagnosed with EPM, which he was treated for. Now he’s having hock issues.
Locomotion is at the very heart of what most domesticated horses do for a living. The way a horse moves (specifically) often is taken for granted. Locomotion is directly linked to conformation as it dictates “the way a horse moves.”
Tendon and ligament injuries often go hand in hand with horses involved in vigorous athletic pursuits. However, many tendon and ligament injuries can be avoided through proper conditioning and training regimens and by not pushing a horse beyond its limits in racing or other competitions.
Horses that had intermittent lameness; pointing a foot; soreness to hoof testers over the frog; shifting leg lameness; contracted, upright feet; and stabbing toes, shortened stride movement were candidates for Navicular Disease.
When a horse has an injury such as happened to Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), the end result has often been euthanasia. Veterinarians are attempting to save Barbaro’s life, and limb. However, if the blood supply t
Good hoof hygiene and recognizing early signs of the disease are essential to controlling the problem.
This system will allow a practitioner to diagnose a horse in the field while trotting in hand, being ridden, or longeing, whereas video-based motion-capture technology (if adequate numbers of strides are evaluated) is restricted to a lab and is very
Locomotion is at the very heart of what most domesticated horses do for a living. The way a horse moves (specifically) often is taken for granted. Locomotion is directly linked to conformation as it dictates “the way a horse moves.”
Both horse owners and veterinarians spend a lot of time observing horses for lameness, but not all observers perceive lameness the same. Sometimes this is because of a less than clear understanding of equine biomechanics. Researchers such as
As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. Nuclear scintigraphy and MRI evaluation proved their worth yet again in this study by giving information about the exact nature and location of these horses’ injuries, which helped practitioners select the
Horse breeders have long known that problems can develop in the bones of young horses as they grow. The term developmental orthopedic disease (DOD) was coined in 1986 to encompass all orthopedic problems seen in the growing foal and has become
As a responsible horse owner, you make management decisions that affect the current well-being of your horse and his future vitality.
Shin soreness, or bucked shins, in Thoroughbred racehorses is a partly preventable condition according to a recent Australian study. Horses with shin soreness display signs of pain on the front of the shins between the knee and fetlock, said
Through the years, the treadmill has been a valuable asset in diagnosing various respiratory problems and complications in athletic horses, especially those involving the larynx and upper airways. Now another dimension has been added–the evaluation
Though a seemingly innocuous injury, a stone bruise can result in a horse’s demise if left untreated.
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