07/29/2025
Simple Lameness Test
Many equestrians are not aware of lameness issues in horses. Most horses don't make it easy for us to detect stiffness, soreness, or even pain. Some horses are so stoic that they keep on with their daily lives whether it's grazing in a pasture or competing in high level disciplines until "all of a sudden" they can't move. Often, this is when the vet is called and everyone involved is in hot pursuit of a mystery lameness. Many times the source of the lameness is over looked and only the symptoms are treated. Often the symptoms aren't even linked together and treatments get out of control, costly, and are even more detrimental to the horse. This leads to further masking of the true source of the original issue. Horses are naturally one sided, just like people, they are either left side dominant or right side dominant. Injuries or poor riding can complicate matters and cause a horse to have opposite dominant limbs in the fronts vs the hinds. This may not seem like a big deal, until you factor in that horses feet are continuously growing and that the direction and speed of growth is regulated by weight bearing. Compensation is the demise of many horses, although it is a built in survival function that allows living beings time to heal after an injury. There may be rare cases where compensation from an injury can lead to an adaptation that allows continued quality of life, but more commonly it leads to breakdown of the horse.
Here are some typical patterns that I see in horses:
1. A right side dominant horse may have trouble lifting the left limbs. This is because the right side is already taking the majority of the weight bearing and can't take anymore.
2. Another scenario is a right side dominant horse not being able to lift the right limbs. In this instance the right limbs have become a crutch and the left limbs aren't used to bearing the majority of the weight. The left side of the horse is weaker and the horse has been leaning to the right so long they feel out if balance when the crutch is removed. Sometimes it's as if they believe they only have the option of falling to the right rather than being able to lean to the left. Anyone who has spent time on crutches or developed a limp from a foot or leg injury should be able to relate to this.
3. This can be the same for fronts and hinds, or alternate, depending on injuries...or imbalances in an ambitious rider. Some times the injury is due to the on going one sidedness becoming more extreme (chronic compensation). The horse wears one side out then resorts to using the other.
This can be really confusing and hard to assess, even harder to treat. Here is a simple lameness test almost anyone can do with their horse:
1. Ask for the front left leg with intention. Refrain from "training" a horse to automatically pick up a foot. They will be less inclined to let you know if there is a problem.
Clean their foot out, massage the heel bulbs, or do some leg stretches, (this will give you even more information)... anything that feels good to the horse and requires more of your awareness to accomplish. If the horse enjoys it and the other limbs are comfortable they will not lean on you. Notice the way the weight is being distributed to the other feet. A sound horse without trust issues will stand comfortably on three legs for several minutes. It is quite common for a lame horse to c**k a right hind when the left front is unloaded. There should be no trembling or straining. Standing on three legs is easy for a sound horse.
2. Repeat this for the other three legs.
In my opinion a horse is not truly sound unless they can voluntarily stand with each foot held up for an extended period of time. You may have to spend some time with your horse in order to eliminate trust issues as part of the equation. Lameness can often be misinterpreted as behavioral problems. Hopefully this points out the ineffectiveness of training a horse to stand vs. teaching them that it's ok to communicate politely.
A right sided horse
With a right sided rider
So then you toss in
A right sided trimmer
Makes the chance of good outcomes
Considerably slimmer
*The photo is of a horse with trust and lameness issues.
