Lameness
in Horses and Ponies
An Introduction
Lameness is a sign of pain or discomfort, in one or more limbs. It can arise from any condition that gives rise to pain in any part of a limb. Extreme forms are laminitis, foot abscess and acute injury (fracture, ‘sore shins', ‘splint', pulled muscle, sprain and strain). However, there are also many chronic and degenerative conditions that can cause lameness. Examples of such problems are sidebone, ringbone, navicular (navicular syndrome), pedal ostitis, DJD, OCD, arthritis, spavin, nerve injury, back problems etc. Of course, lameness can arise when the normal movement of the limb is impeded, e.g. by a Sarcoid or by Mud Fever.
One of the complications of long-term lameness is the compensatory tendency of the horse, which is a mechanism for staying mobile that often generates several other knock-on problems, all of which have to be identified and dealt with. The holistic approach is ideal for this in-depth ‘detective' work.
In natural medicine, we have been privileged to have treated a great many lameness cases, over the years. Of course, not all can be sorted but happily, there has been a positive outcome in the great majority.
Treatment options used, often combined, have been veterinary homeopathy, veterinary acupuncture, LASER, herbs, chiropractic and natural feeding. We also carefully examine the saddling and shoeing of each patient.
For a fuller account of this topic, see:
Horse Diseases (& follow individual sub-headings and links to individual conditions)
