Kinetic Equine Medicine

Call or Text Kinetic Equine Medicine at (253) 878-8098 or email info@kineticequinemedicine.com

Focused on Body Lameness in the Equine Athlete

What is Body Lameness?

The body of the horse is what is ridden. The neck, back, and pelvis are responsible for shifting and distributing the horse's weight and controls the movement of the legs. If the body of the horse is dysfunctional, then this will lead to lower limb lamenesses. These lower limb lamenesses are often treated, however, without addressing the body, they often return leading to chronic conditions that can effect performance and soundness.

This is why we focus on the body and approach lameness as a multifaceted problem which can have second and third order effects to the whole horse. When the body is dysfunctional this results in body lameness. Body lameness can result in a variety of performance issues from subtle toe-dragging in one limb to explosive dangerous behavioral outbursts. Some key body lameness issues we focus on are Kissing Spine (Overriding Dorsal Spinous Processes), Shivers, and String-halt.

Unlike conventional sports medicine approaches of joint injections, treating body lameness and restoring body soundness takes time and dedication from the owner, trainer, and all involved in the horse's care to include saddle fitters and body workers. Often times treatment is required as well as tack and equipment changes.

Below are lists of common signs/symptoms of body lameness in horses.

Performance Conditions KEM Focuses On

Cervical (Neck) Pain

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Neck pain in horses often goes unrealized and first appears as performance-related problems like rein-lameness, resistance to bend, and lead change issues. Additionally, there can be structural changes to the neck, like equine complex vertebral malformation (ECVM) variants which can lead to nerve root compression and dysfunction.

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder (Idiopathic Hopping), once believed to have no known cause, hopping disorder has been shown to be linked to scapular restriction, often called Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder. This condition can be medically managed with horses showing huge improvements.

Back Pain/Kissing Spine

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Shoulder-Girdle Dysfunction

Back pain in horses can be terribly frustrating to deal with and is one of the main complaints of most equine owners. Kissing spine is also difficult to manage. Dr. Byles focuses on treating these conditions in a whole horse manner and not just managing and treating the painful areas. To resolve the pain, we address the underlying cause.

Shoulder-Girdle Dysfunction

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Shoulder-Girdle Dysfunction

The front limbs of the horse are suspended to the body through an intricate connection of muscle and fascia. Additionally, the neck ties into this highly complex area. Injuries often go undiagnosed and unrealized in this region. These injuries can also be very complicated to treat. Without treatment though horses can develop dangerous behavior or dangerous movement patterns leading to increased tripping or falling placing the rider's safety at risk.

Shivers/String-halt Syndrome

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Often believed to have a genetic or central nervous component, Dr. DeClue has pioneered a treatment for these complex and frustrating conditions. Dr. Byles has been mentored and taught by Dr. DeClue and has implemented these techniques into her practice. Treating these conditions is not cheap and there is no quick fix, but with dedication and patience, these patients can experience a better quality of life.

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Evaluating lameness, we often start in the limbs, working the way up from the lower leg to the upper limb, but what happens if the whole leg is blocked and the lameness doesn't resolve? Dr. Byles approaches these cases by focusing on the axial skeleton and locating the problem up high to solve the problem down low.

Common Phrases Around the Barn

Give Us a Call or Talk to Your Veterinarian if You are Told:

"That's just the way he goes."
"He's just lazy and requires a lot of leg and crop."
Farrier has to use to different shoe sizes on the front because he has different sized feet.
"He bucks after the jump because he is excited."
"He always jumps to the right/left."
"He's just bad for the farrier."
"That's his bad direction."
"He's just clumsy and trips/stumbles a lot."
"He just doesn't like to be groomed and brushed."
"He's girthy."
"He needs a long warm-up because he's cold backed."
"He is just a grouchy horse."
"He's just resistant to the bit."
"He just doesn't like to bend that direction."
"I always feel like I'm falling off to one side."
"Your right stirrup is always longer than your left."
"He's a spooky/reactive horse."

If any of these phrases sound familiar to you reach out to Kinetic Equine Medicine to for a comprehensive equine sports medicine evaluation.

Equine Body Lameness

Back and Pelvis Dysfunction Symptoms

Symptoms of back/pelvis body lameness and dysfunction.

Toe drag in one or both hind limbs
Unwilling or reluctant to move forward
Crooked tail carriage
Unable/ Unwilling to pick up the correct lead, maintain the correct lead
Poor lead changes or late lead changes
The "ride" changes with direction changes
"Pot-Belly" appearance
Jumps to one side of the fence
Lands on incorrect lead
Lack of topline or gluteal development
Uneven size in front/hind feet
Feeling like you are falling off to one side
Bad for the farrier, unable or reluctant to pick up hind feet, or picks up one hindlimb better than the other

Cervical (Neck) Dysfunction Symptoms

Symptoms of Neck or Shoulder-Girdle body lameness or dysfunction.

Difficult flexing neck to left or right
Hops into trot
Patchy sweat pattern on neck/withers
Becomes noticeably lame or reluctant to move forward when brought into a frame (Rein-lame)
Muscle loss over neck or asymmetrical muscle patterns between left/right side
Difficult bridling
Stumbling or Tripping
Base-wide stance
Toe tick/ toe dragging of front toes
Unequal bend/contact
Head or neck tilt while riding or lunging
Toss head in cross ties if head is too high or too low
Idiopathic Hopping
Throwing head and neck up over a jump

Equipment Pain and Dysfunction Symptoms

Does not like being groomed
Grumpy when being tacked up/ girth tightened
Moves different when tacked up/ under saddle than when equipment is not on the horse
Hairloss, rubs, sores, or white hairs present where equipment sits
"Sharkfin" withers
"Ewe" neck conformation
Clumsy or tripping under saddle
Unblockable forelimb lameness
High or low neck carriage
Resistant to maintaining contact
Wide or narrow forelimb stance
Throws the neck up before and over a jump
Lameness is not apparent on the lunge line but appears under saddle

If your horse is showing these pain signs reach out to Kinetic Equine Medicine for an equine sports medicine evaluation.

Equine Ridden Pain Behavior

Dr. Sue Dyson's Ridden Pain Ethogram

Facial Markers

The ears rotated back behind vertical or flat (both or one only) for five or more seconds, or repeatedly laying the ears flat
The eye lids closed or half closed for two to five seconds
Sclera (white of the eye) repeatedly exposed
An intense stare for five or more seconds
The mouth opening and shutting repeatedly with separation of teeth, for ten or more seconds
The tongue exposed, protruding or hanging out, and / or moving in and out
The bit pulled through the mouth on one side (left or right)

Body Markers

Repeated changes of head position (up / down, but not in rhythm with trot)
Head tilted, repeated
Head in front of vertical (more than 30 degrees) for ten or more seconds
Head behind vertical (more than 10 degrees) for ten or more seconds
Head position changes regularly, tossed or twisted from side to side, corrected constantly
Tail clamped tightly to middle or held to one side
Tail swishing large movements: repeatedly up and down / side to side / circular; during transitions

Gait Markes

A rushed gait (frequency of trot steps greater than 40 in 15 seconds); irregular rhythm in trot or canter; repeated changes of speed in trot or canter
Gait too slow (frequency of trot steps less than 35 in 15 seconds); passage-like trot
Hindlimbs do not follow tracks of forelimbs but deviated to left or right; on three tracks in trot or canter
Canter repeated strike off wrong leg; change of leg in front and / or behind (disunited)
Spontaneous changes of gait (e.g., breaks from canter to trot, or trot to canter)
Stumbles or trips repeatedly; repeated bilateral hindlimb toe drag
Sudden change of direction, against rider’s direction; spooking
Reluctant to move forward (has to be kicked, with or without verbal encouragement), stops spontaneously
Rearing (both forelimbs off the ground)
Bucking or kicking backwards (one or both hindlimbs)

Focused on Body Lameness in the Equine Athlete

What is Body Lameness?

Performance Conditions KEM Focuses On

Cervical (Neck) Pain

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Back Pain/Kissing Spine

Dorsal Scapular Movement Disorder

Shoulder-Girdle Dysfunction

Shoulder-Girdle Dysfunction

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Shoulder-Girdle Dysfunction

Shivers/String-halt Syndrome

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Unblockable Limb Lameness Performance Issues

Common Phrases Around the Barn

Give Us a Call or Talk to Your Veterinarian if You are Told:

Equine Body Lameness

Back and Pelvis Dysfunction Symptoms

Cervical (Neck) Dysfunction Symptoms

Equipment Pain and Dysfunction Symptoms

Equine Ridden Pain Behavior

Dr. Sue Dyson's Ridden Pain Ethogram

Facial Markers

Body Markers

Gait Markes

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