Why lameness is so common and our role as a coach in safeguarding horses

Alison Lincoln
Jul 6
4 min read

Lameness is generally defined as asymmetry that can be changed by nerve blocks. This implies that the lameness is caused by pain because the horse no longer presents as lame once a nerve block has been administered and the pain removed. Before lameness becomes visible, even to a trained observer such as a vet, pain will often manifest in observable behavioural signs. Pain is a negative experience and as such is a welfare concern but we also know that lameness is a limiting factor in performance. As coaches we have a role to play in spotting the early signs that a horse is experiencing pain / discomfort and ensuring our coaching practices are working to safeguard horses.

Firstly, why is lameness so common?

1. Horses are often worked continuously on a single surface which is problematic especially if the quality of the surface is not good. This can lead to the development of repetitive strain injury. As a coach we need to ensure that our regular coaching sessions are not always in the arena or on the same surface and we should encourage our clients not to do the same thing every day or every time they ride.

2. A lack of cross training using different surfaces, terrain, level and unlevel ground, pole work, jumping (even for dressage horses), up and down hills and hacking. As coaches we need to vary the activities we use with our clients in their regular sessions and encourage this variety to continue outside of their normal coaching sessions.

3. Failure to identify problems early on which can lead to progressive deterioration and make them harder to control / resolve. We, as coaches, are in the unique position of seeing our clients more regularly than many other professionals so it is our responsibility to pick up on behavioural signs that may indicate the presence of pain rather than finding a way through the ‘unwanted or problem’ behaviour.

4. Lack of recognition that there is a problem – the tradition of labelling horses as unco-operative, resistant, evasive, naughty, lazy, difficult or a typical mare. I hope that there are fewer and fewer coaches using this type of language.

5. Training methods that have a high prevalence of horses worked routinely with their heads behind the vertical. In these cases the horse is often ‘required’ either by tack / equipment / training aids / riders hands to work overly round. We know this is damaging to the horse.

6. Horses not asked to ‘push’ from behind are more likely to have poor development of the musculoskeletal system. The horse must always work from back to front to achieve contact and an outline not the other way round. But it is also important to understand that holding the horse in a restrictive outline whilst ‘encouraging’ them to work / push from behind can be equally as damaging.

7. Work that is not encouraging the engagement of the thoracic girdle to develop core stability also doesn’t encourage proper hindlimb engagement and impulsion which predisposes to the development of musculoskeletal injury.

Some horses are more stoic than others and even though they clearly show overt signs of lameness, will score low on the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHPE) either because they conceal their discomfort or because it is relatively low grade and chronic, meaning they have got used to dealing with it. This is why I dislike the term fortitude, because it describes exactly this situation. It would be interesting to measure the cortisol levels in these horses. High levels of cortisol is an indicator of the presence of pain. Assessment of blink rate would also be an interesting measure. Increased blink rate has been linked to dopamine levels which may increase as a result of pain.

Other things to bear in mind that may not be training issues:

Spooking, bucking, rearing, kicking out backwards and gaits that are too slow are often a direct response to the presence of pain. Take away the pain and the behaviour resolves.
Saddle slip is usually a manifestation of hind limb lameness.
If the hind limb crosses under the trunk (towards the opposite side) rather than stepping forward and under, the horse is avoiding full hind limb flexion and has probably got a problem.
In canter, the rider’s pelvis should feel (and look) like it is being rocked backwards and forwards, not rotated. It is the action of the horse’s back during canter that is driving the motion of the rider’s pelvis.
If the horse is persistently stiff, lacking straightness or consistently more ‘difficult’ on one rein than the other, there has to be a reason.
A horse cannot flex the hock without flexing the stifle and the hip at the same time (known as the reciprocal apparatus of the hind limb). The presence of a bilateral hind limb toe drag (easiest to see on 10m circles) can therefore be a reflection of pain coming from almost anywhere in the hind limbs. A bilateral hind limb toe drag is easiest to spot on good arena surfaces as the hind limb kicks up the surface as they move across it.
The rider’s morphology (their size in relation to the horse / their saddle) has the potential to influence the behaviours shown by the horse, especially if they are sitting on the back of the saddle.