Animal Stewardship
Lameness in the Working Horse By: Dr. JD Lillich, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVS, Kansas State University
Across the vast and varied uses of horses within this country, none sees more activity than the working cow horse. Whether it’s working cattle on the ranch or riding pens, the job demands a horse to be used virtually every day for long periods of time. As a consequence, these working horses are going to experience “wear and tear” within the musculoskeletal systems (the muscle, the joints, and the bones), and this usually results in a horse that becomes lame (an abnormal gait at the walk or trot). Each athletic discipline has their own set of predisposing factors that can cause problems or injury. For example, horses that work at speed (primarily racing) are predisposed to injuries that fracture bones (minor joint fractures are far more common that major long bone fractures) or tear soft tissues (tendons or ligaments). In this instance, speed kills or does major damage. While all equine disciplines have their own common sets of issues, no horse, no matter the use, is immune to problems involving the foot. In fact, the old proverb of “no foot, no horse” holds true for virtually every breed and use of horse. That being stated, how can this simple statement be applied to the working horse in a practical fashion to ensure long and sustained use of a horse that has to work every day, in variety of jobs and over a variety of surfaces? This article is intended to point out some very simple steps that can be taken to limit the impact of long use on a working horse, to extend its useful lifespan and increase the horse’s and rider’s quality of life. 16 pacdvms.com
Selection of the Horse This clearly is the starting point for any equine athletic discipline, and we can’t get away from the fact the genetic base of the horse rules the day in this area. Horses are simply amazing at being able to tolerate and excel at jobs with training. However, we can’t overlook the basic truth that we have to have good starting material in order to develop a product that works well. When considering a horse for pen work, the quick and fundamental question that needs to be asked is what the selection criteria was used to create this horse. Meaning, was the horse bred to do this work and did the lineage do this work? When it comes right down to it, the horse that works every day needs to have two solid attributes, one mental and one physical. Contrast this with what is needed of the race horse, who only has to have enough mental capacity to handle crowd excitement for 15 minutes and stand in the gate for 15 seconds, but needs to have the physical ability to run a sustained speed for several minutes. Assessing mental abilities is a topic all in itself, so let’s just focus on the physical assessment of a horse. The body of working horse has to be physically balanced, with correct limb confirmation, and have a size of foot that matches the body. This is where the rub comes in because in years past we have bred horses with smaller feet. Many people that breed for the working horse are laboring diligently to reverse this trend, and we still have some improvements to make. Correct limb confirmation allows for the foot to be placed evenly on the ground, and therefore biomechanical loading (allowing bones, muscles and
