Horse Lameness, Lamneness in Horses, Lame Horse

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Over the past five years, vet Stephen Ashdown has written many articles, spoken on equine matters and contributed widely to horse magazines.

Here he reproduces in the form of questions and answers about 100 topics, all of them common problems which afflict horses.

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HORSE LAMENESS, LAME HORSE
Should I call the Vet?
Q My 12-year old New Forest mare recently went lame after a day's hunting. Although she is perfectly healthy in every other way, she is unable to continue hunting after only a few hours.

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She goes lame while she is out and then 'limps' on return. She recovers quickly and is only slightly stiff the next day. Is it worth calling the vet as it seems to be such a short-lived problem?

A You should certainly try to find out what is causing your mare's problem as it is likely to get worse in the future. Try to get your vet to look at the condition when it is worse than normal.

There are many things that may be causing the problem, it could be muscular, related to joint disease or perhaps originate from ligament damage. There are some good, useful supplements available for non-specific lameness and stiffness but I do think you should seek professional advice.

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