When an owner sees their horse in pain, it can be heartbreaking. Many injuries can become worse if not caught quickly and remedied properly. Whether your equine friend is a family pet or a racehorse, galloping, jumping, and simple accidents can cause strains, tears, or a broken bone. Here are some of the most common injuries in horses.
An injury to a horse’s hamstring results in the muscles bunching together and eventually growing scar tissue as a protective reaction from the horse’s immune system. The scar tissue can be felt as a hard lump of tissue. Hamstring injuries commonly occur when a young horse first begins to gallop, but they can happen at any time.
Most often, hip injuries occur to the posterior gluteal seam of a horse. The most common cause of a hip or pelvic injury is a fall at any age or degenerative joints in an older horse. Additionally, younger horses are more prone to pelvic injuries, as the onset of lameness in the hind legs can sometimes occur.
Joint disorders, strains, fractures, and tendon injuries are very common in racing horses and can lead to permanent carpal pain.
The lateral tricep is the longest muscle in the posterior area of the shoulder, and it is prone to injury due to hyperextension of the forelimb. When injuries in this area are left untreated, scar tissues form, making it difficult for the forelimb to extend again.
Stress, trauma, and dental issues can all lead to head and neck disorders in a horse. Being tied to an object and not being allowed to move can cause pain in the horse’s head and neck, and, in turn, the horse may associate things such as a bridle with pain and may not be cooperative when putting it on.
Spasms and congenital defects also cause trauma to the head and neck.
A horse may have an unexplained trigger point, which is a point on the body that suddenly triggers pain. Unfortunately, these triggers can show up out of nowhere and may be seen as aggression in the horse.
A muscle spasm is a tight contraction of a muscle or muscles, usually around an injury that has already occurred. This is painful to the horse and tough to treat once those muscles have shortened and lost the ability to stretch.
Understanding the most common injuries in horses will help both owners and large animal veterinarians work together to bring a horse back to health. Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging offers the latest technology, such as equine standing MRI, to assist in discovering horse injuries.