Examination of a series of lameness cases in Texas revealed insights into why owners of 200 cutting horses sought treatment at the Texas A&M Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Two hundred cutting horses were presented for evaluation with poor performance being the more common complaint (58%) compared with lameness (42%). All of the horses were lame in at least one limb and 81/200 were lame in multiple limbs.

Check Ligament Surgery For Club Feet Researchers followed up on 13 adult horses (median age of 5 years) that had been treated for flexural deformity of the coffin joint (club foot) by cutting the accessory ligament of the deep digital flexor tendon (inferior check ligament desmotomy). Researchers questioned owners, conducted a lameness exam and obtaining follow-up radiographs to assess hoof conformation 1 year after the surgery.

Joint Injections Compared Joint injections using corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid (HA) or a combination of the two are commonly used to treat synovitis and arthritis in performance horses. In this study, researchers compared the efficacy of one type of corticosteroid (triamcinolone acetate, TA) with and without HA for the treatment of lameness, localized to one limb only that responded to a diagnostic joint block. Eighty horses of various breeds were enrolled in the study with follow-up at 3 weeks by re-examining the horses and 3 months by an owner questionnaire. No other medications were permitted during the first 3 weeks of follow-up.

A 10-year study in the United Kingdom investigated the relationships between clinical signs, response to nerve blocks, X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings for horses diagnosed with navicular disease. The 4,618 horses examined were presented with a complaint of forelimb lameness and received a typical clinical workup prior to MRI.