Читать книгу Equine Lameness for the Layman. Tools for Prompt Recognition, Accurate Assessment, and Proactive Management онлайн

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CircumductionVL 8a

VL 8a

Non-painful issues usually produce non weight-bearing lameness. This is easily demonstrated via the application of a splinted brace to one of your knees. The splint, when properly positioned, should not be uncomfortable nor prevent you from bearing a normal amount of weight on the limb during full extension. Yet it will effectively prohibit flexion of your limb, thereby resulting in a visibly obvious gait deficit as you try to ambulate.

Characterizing the nature of the horse’s lameness is one of the key objectives of effective visual examination. Achieving this task in conjunction with identifying the lame limb(s) comprises the foundation of any satisfying assessment. This is because there tends to be a healthy correlation between the nature of a horse’s lameness and the general location of its source (fig. 9.1). For instance, we can usually rule out a foot problem in a horse exhibiting purely non weight-bearing lameness in a forelimb. On the other hand, if the same horse subsequently develops severe unilateral weight-bearing lameness a few days after being reshod, there’s a good chance that the issue can be successfully addressed with the help of the farrier. This region-specific information becomes invaluable as we navigate through the examination process.