Anti-inflammatory treatment did not decrease movement asymmetry in riding horses in training

Quantitative gait analysis has revealed that a large proportion of riding horses in training, perceived as free from lameness by their owners, show movement asymmetries of equal magnitude to horses with mild clinical lameness. Whether these movement asymmetries are related to orthopaedic pain and/or pathology has yet to be studied further. In the current study, researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in collaboration with The Royal Veterinary Collage in London, UK, therefore investigated whether movement asymmetries in riding horses in training are affected by anti-inflammatory treatment with meloxicam.

Motion analysis was performed on horses in full training, considered free from lameness by their owner and not recently treated for lameness. Sixty six horses with movement asymmetries, above thresholds regularly used during lameness exams, were included. They were treated with a commonly prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (meloxicam) and placebo at two separate occasions. Before and after each treatment the horses' movement asymmetry was measured using the sensor based Lameness Locator system.

Treatment with meloxicam did not significantly affect the movement asymmetry in these horses. The movement asymmetries might be non-painful expressions of biological variation. However, they can also be related to pain/dysfunction that is non-responsive to meloxicam treatment. We know very little about chronic pain in horses and for which orthopaedic conditions anti-inflammatory treatment is effective. Further knowledge in these areas will improve lameness diagnostics and treatment in sport horses.

The study was founded by The Swedish-Norwegian Foundation for Equine Research and The Swedish research council Formas. The authors would like to thank the owners (amongst these the Swedish Horse Guards Society, the National Equestrian Center at Strömsholm, Färingsö Riding School and Uppsala Yrkesgymnasium Jälla) who volunteered their horses for participation.