A large portion of our equine work involves making lameness diagnosis for both show horses and our backyard friends. During the summer, many horses have an increased risk of lameness from harder work regimes and as they get older the stress and trauma to their joints, tendons and backs results in acute and chronic lameness. We prefer to allot plenty of time for lameness workups, as the veterinarians often do diagnostic nerve blocks (freezing various parts of the leg to remove the source of the pain and localize the lameness) as well as X-Rays. For difficult problems we may recommend injections or even send the horse to Guelph for a bone scan. We may ultrasound the limb if we suspect acute swelling may be as a result of a suspensory or tendon injury, as the damaged fibres can be seen with this modality. We do not hesitate to make appropriate referrals to a physiotherapist or to line up equipment such as lasers and TENS if needed.
