Is This Horse Lame? Lameness Lab

Is This Horse Lame?

Our most successful series of videos here on Dressage Hub was the Lameness Lab: Is This Horse Lame series hosted by Equine Guelph. In this series, we talk about how to identify lameness in horses.

When it comes to an eye for lameness it is important to continue to watch horses and develop an eye for what a lame horse looks like and when it is time to call the vet.

Evaluating Lameness Under Saddle

I watched this ride yesterday and paused for a moment to think, is this horse lame, is the internet lagging, or is this mare just unbalance and stiff through some of the movements in the test. Guenther Siedel has made 3 appearances with this mare over the past few weeks of the season here in Wellington. The mare has scored a 65% and a 67% in the Grand Prix. The test that we are watching today scored at 70%.

The judges have opted to decide that this mare is not in fact lame or is not lame enough to be eliminated, however, we have watched horses with a high degree of lameness be allowed to finish their Grand Prix test in Wellington.

You can watch that Dressage Disaster here: https://youtu.be/d9t3VbfB6-k

Learning More About Lameness

I do not have a wrong or right answer to this question. I do think however it is an interesting test to watch and learn to develop your eye for small nuances of what might be happening during the Grand Prix dressage test. If you can’t see anything from this ride.

Try checking out our Lameness Lab Series here:

How To Tell If Your Horse Is Lame: https://youtu.be/pSqhB_minMU

Lameness Lab #1: https://youtu.be/PQ3iyoiZwA0

Lameness Lab #2: https://youtu.be/cQdPRR50E3c

Lameness Lab #3: https://youtu.be/SHFTJGL3KwQ

Lameness Lab #4: https://youtu.be/Ic7QVflODRo