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What is Lameness? Berwyn & Dee's Interactive Physiotherapist, Paul Gurnett (MCSP. SRP.) has kindly written a brief essay on one of the most commom afflictions our ponies could suffer. Lameness is both painful to the animal and a major source of of worry to all owners of equine stock.
Lameness
was
classically described in the mid-nineteenth century as “the manifestation, in
the act of progression, of pain, weakness, deformity or impediment” (Percival
Lameness in the horse. Longman, London.1849). In simple terms, it is recognised as an unevenness of gait, with one limb
demonstrating a different action in comparison to its undiseased counterpart.
Lameness can manifest as a decreased weight bearing (as a consequence of pain),
a collapsing stride (due to weakness), an in-coordinate gait (due to loss of
neurological co-ordination), or a mechanically inefficient, sometimes bizarre,
movement of a limb (as a result of deformity of an acquired restriction to
movement).
Lameness must be distinguished from a gait, which falls short, or our ideal, in terms of length of stride, fluency and sheer beauty, but is normal for a given animal with a particular conformation and genetic background. It can be regarded as a departure from the locomotor “pattern” for a particular animal as a consequence of a developmental problem or an injury. Thus, a pony with a naturally short and “choppy” action is not lame, but an animal with bilateral shortened forelimb action, as a consequence of navicular disease, is. Similarly, a horse with a circular action, in front or behind, as a result of its conformation, would not normally be regarded as lame. However, a horse, which at abducts (takes away from the mid-line) each hind limb during protraction (bringing the limb forwards), to reduce flexion of its osteoarthritic hock joints, is very definitely lame!
Such distinctions are clearly important in deciding whether or not therapeutic intervention is appropriate, and the level of athletic activity, which an animal can humanely undertake. In general terms, the therapist should not be attempting to “correct” an animals natural gate so that it conforms to an often arbitrarily-defined ideal required for the show ring. A horse’s genetic make-up may dictate that its fore- limbs are “pigeon-toed” and that it circumducts (Swings the limb outwards) its limbs as a consequence. Corrective foot trimming and shoeing aimed at straightening the feet and action may place abnormal strains on ligaments and other articular structures, leading to lameness. Similarly, a conformationally-determined eccentricity of action should not, in itself, debar an animal from high-level athletic activity. However, the different types of lameness should be carefully considered when it comes to deciding an animal’s future.
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