Order of examination | Criteria | Description | Points | Given Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
Stage 1 | ||||
Examine horse standing | Weight shifting | No weight shifting | 0 | |
Weight shifting – including shifting weight between all feet; | 2 | |||
Abnormal time spent lying down; placing forelimbs in front of body | ||||
Gently lift each foot up and put back down straight away | Forelimb lift | Prompt and willingly maintained (each forelimb) | 0 | |
Reluctant and maintained with difficulty (each forelimb) | 1 | |||
Unable to lift foot/resists attempts to lift foot (each forelimb) | 2 | |||
Stage 2 | ||||
Conduct on hard surface Walk horse approx. 30 m side-on to examiner | Gait at walk | Normal gait | 0 | |
Mild - short, stilted gait - still moves willingly | 1 | |||
Moderate - short, stilted gait - reluctant/difficult to walk | 2 | |||
Severe difficulty walking or unable to walk* | 6 | |||
*do not force horse to walk; skip gait at circle and continue with digital pulse | ||||
Turn on a short lead clockwise and anti-clockwise | Gait at circle | Normal circling | 0 | |
Mild head rise, difficulty when turning, still moves willingly | 1 | |||
Moderate, sharp head rise, reluctance/difficulty turning | 2 | |||
Severe difficulty turning, slow and clearly painful | 3 | |||
Stage 3 | ||||
All feet must be square on ground | Forelimb digital pulse | Normal - able to palpate, normal magnitude but not bounding | 0 | |
Increased magnitude or bounding digital pulse (each forelimb) | 2 | |||
Total Score |