14/10/2023
The "Not Quite Right Horse"
The most heart breaking cases I am involved in are with the owners of the "not quite right horse".
When I started out training horses I solved problem horses with education. It worked for a while until I came across horses that seemed to be stuck and could not learn or their performance was inconsistent.
Then the reasons started to be revealed. Unsoundness. The type that means the horse is not obviously lame but when we ask them to be ridden, travel in a certain direction in a certain gait the issues cause the horse to feel uncomfortable and this is reflected in their behaviour.
I have dozens of stories of unsoundness.
Even some of the difficult horses I "fixed" all turned out to have problems that became more obvious the older they got.
These days I am good at seeing red flags and believe the horse when they show me they are struggling.
Some problems are easy to diagnose, others are not. Some are easy to manage, some are not.
The owner’s are stuck in the "hard to diagnose" and "hard to treat" are the horse owners I feel for the most.
However, I believe a lot of these owners get stuck because we need to improve assessment observations. And there are heap of potential research projects ready and waiting to be done ♥️
I have a lot of respect for Sue Dyson Vet MB PhD and her research producing the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram. However, I have only had a handful of clients be asked to ride their horse during lameness work ups. Many problems are only revealed when ridden.
Not only that but I feel many clear signs of discomfort the horse gives can be missed when lunged for assessment.
These are common things that potential investigators might find interesting to observe in connection with different soundness issues:
Difference from one rein to the other including things like posture, their head position (low, high or counter bend), struggle to transition between gaits, variation in tension and conflict behaviour, the amount of motivation they need to go forward and transition, length of time in maintaining gait etc.
I know many of these things are already observed as important but I have seen many overlooked and more overt signs focused on.
I believe the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram is just the start, taking note of behaviours during lunging and other activities may also be helpful...and I am also keen to see the future of computer diagnostics too.
Please don’t see this as criticism of the veterinary industry…I just think there are some potential research projects out there that might help these “not quite right horses” by investigating the subtlety of their presentation.
If you are an owner of the "not quite right horse", my thoughts go out to you as I know it is tough ❤
