Lameness for a Horse

The hoof is one of the most important part of a horse – without all four legs, a horse is considered lame, and can’t be ridden nor move around as well as it could with all good legs.

    When a horse’s hoof comes in contact when the ground (say, when it is walking), the frog of the hoof will immediately shoot the blood in the leg back upwards. Then the blood comes back down – that’s how it circulates, in a way.

    One of the causes for lameness is how a horse moves when grazing. When grazing, equines will often just move their fore legs so that they can cover the general area that they’re in easily. Then the blood doesn’t circulate as well in their hind legs.

But, lameness isn’t always very serious. Many times it just resolves itself with rest.

One way to tell your horse is lame is if it isn’t moving like it usually does, or doesn’t stand like usual.

    Here are more ways to tell:

-The easiest way to see if a horse is lame is to have him trot. If he isn’t moving smoothly, then he is probably lame in one of his front feet. If one of his hind legs is lame, he will put more weight on the other leg.

-Another way to tell is to have your horse trot in both directions on a hard/asphalt surface. The lame leg will have a softer sound than the others, and the other leg will sound louder than the others because it is taking more weight.

-If your horse is moving at a stumbling gait when asked to trot, he is most likely lame in either both front legs or all for legs.

-Your horse can also show reluctance to move, and throwing his head when trotting.

Set up an appointment with your vet if your horse acts lame for over two days or so.