FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 10000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
PloS one2024; 19(7); e0308061; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308061

Prevalence of movement asymmetries in high-performing riding horses perceived as free from lameness and riders’ perception of horse sidedness.

Abstract: A high proportion of horses in training, perceived as free from lameness by their owner, exhibit vertical movement asymmetries. These types of asymmetries are sensitive measures of lameness, but their specificity as indicators of orthopaedic pathology or locomotor function remains unclear. Equine athletes performing at a high level could be assumed to exhibit a higher degree of movement symmetry compared with the general horse population, but this has not been confirmed. This study investigated the prevalence of movement asymmetries in horses performing at a high level in three equestrian disciplines; show jumping, dressage and eventing, as well as the association between riders' perception of horse sidedness and said movement asymmetries. Using an inertial measurement unit-based system (Equinosis), gait analysis was performed on 123 high-performing horses. The mean difference between the two vertical minimum and between the two maximum values of each stride was recorded for the head (HDmin, HDmax) and pelvis (PDmin, PDmax). The horses were defined as asymmetric if one or multiple asymmetry parameters exceeded an absolute trial mean of: >6mm for HDmin or HDmax, and >3mm for PDmin or PDmax, with standard deviation less than the respective mean value. Based on the results, 70% of the horses were classified as asymmetric, which is similar to previous findings for young riding horses and horses competing at a lower level. More than one-third of these high-performing horses had asymmetry values of similar magnitude to those seen in clinically lame horses. No clear associations were observed between rider-perceived sidedness and the vertical movement asymmetry values, indicating that the perceived unevenness between sides is not a determinant of vertical movement asymmetry. Longitudinal studies on movement asymmetries in relation to training intensity and full clinical examinations with local or systemic analgesic testing are desired as further research to determine whether these movement asymmetries indicate a welfare problem.
Copyright: © 2024 Zetterberg et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2024-07-30 PubMed ID: 39078818PubMed Central: PMC11288442DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308061Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research investigates the prevalence of movement asymmetries in high-performing horses, often serving as indicators for lameness or orthopedic issues, despite their owners perceiving them as free from any such condition. It also studies the association between riders’ perceived sidedness of these horses and their vertical movement asymmetry.

Research Methodology

  • The research involved an in-depth analysis of these asymmetries in horses that participated in high-level equestrian pursuits, such as show jumping, dressage, and eventing.
  • An innovative inertial measurement unit-based device, named Equinosis, was used for gait analysis. The tool recorded the minute differences between the minimum and maximum vertical movements for every stride of the horses being observed.
  • Parameters were established for labelling horses as ‘asymmetric’. If the asymmetry parameters went over an agreed trial mean (for example, >6mm for head movement and >3mm for pelvis movement), the horse was considered asymmetric.
  • The study involved 123 high-performing horses, and meticulous records were kept for both head and pelvis movements for most accurate results.

Findings and observations

  • The study revealed that 70% of these high-performing horses could be defined as asymmetric under the established parameters, a finding that aligns with previous studies involving young or lower-level competing horses.
  • Alarmingly, this research also found that about one-third of these high-performing horses exhibited asymmetry values that could be equated to those observed in clinically lame horses.
  • The research also found no obvious associations between rider-perceived sidedness (or unevenness between sides as perceived by the rider) and the actual vertical movement asymmetry of horses. This observation indicates that rider perception does not necessarily point to existing vertical movement asymmetry.

Implications and future research

  • The widespread presence of such asymmetries among high-performing horses may point to potential welfare issues, thus requiring further research.
  • Further studies are recommended to evaluate these movement asymmetries in relation to the intensity of training and clinical examinations. This would entail employing local or systemic analgesic testing to address the issue from various perspectives.

Cite This Article

APA
Zetterberg E, Persson-Sjodin E, Lundblad J, Hernlund E, Rhodin M. (2024). Prevalence of movement asymmetries in high-performing riding horses perceived as free from lameness and riders’ perception of horse sidedness. PLoS One, 19(7), e0308061. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308061

Publication

PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
NlmUniqueID: 101285081
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 19
Issue: 7
Pages: e0308061

Researcher Affiliations

Zetterberg, Ebba
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Persson-Sjodin, Emma
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Lundblad, Johan
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Hernlund, Elin
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Rhodin, Marie
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.

MeSH Terms

  • Horses
  • Animals
  • Lameness, Animal / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Female
  • Gait / physiology
  • Humans
  • Prevalence
  • Movement
  • Gait Analysis / methods
  • Horse Diseases / epidemiology
  • Perception
  • Physical Conditioning, Animal

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

This article includes 35 references
  1. Penell JC, Egenvall A, Bonnett BN, Olson P, Pringle J. Specific causes of morbidity among Swedish horses insured for veterinary care between 1997 and 2000.. Vet Rec 2005;157: 470–477.
    doi: 10.1136/vr.157.16.470pubmed: 16227382google scholar: lookup
  2. Egenvall A, Penell JC, Bonnett BN, Olson P, Pringle J. Mortality of Swedish horses with complete life insurance between 1997 and 2000: Variations with sex, age, breed and diagnosis.. Vet Rec 2006;158: 397–406.
    doi: 10.1136/vr.158.12.397pubmed: 16565338google scholar: lookup
  3. Keegan KG, Dent E V., Wilson DA, Janicek J, Kramer J, Lacarrubba A. Repeatability of subjective evaluation of lameness in horses.. Equine Vet J 2010;42: 92–97.
    doi: 10.2746/042516409X479568pubmed: 20156242google scholar: lookup
  4. Hammarberg M, Egenvall A, Pfau T, Rhodin M. Rater agreement of visual lameness assessment in horses during lungeing.. Equine Vet J 2016;48: 78–82.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.12385pmc: PMC4964936pubmed: 25399722google scholar: lookup
  5. Leclercq A, Byström A, Söderlind M, Persson E, Rhodin M, Engell MT. Evaluation of feedback methods for improved detection of hindlimb lameness in horses among riding instructors and trainers.. Front Vet Sci 2022;9.
    doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.992954pmc: PMC9590690pubmed: 36299634google scholar: lookup
  6. Pfau T, Witte TH, Wilson AM. A method for deriving displacement data during cyclical movement using an inertial sensor.. J Exp Biol 2005;208: 2503–2514.
    doi: 10.1242/jeb.01658pubmed: 15961737google scholar: lookup
  7. Keegan KG, Kramer J, Yonezawa Y, Maki H, Frank Pai P, Dent E V. Assessment of repeatability of a wireless, inertial sensor-based lameness evaluation system for horses.. Am J Vet Res 2011;72: 1156–1163.
    doi: 10.2460/ajvr.72.9.1156pubmed: 21879972google scholar: lookup
  8. Starke SD, Raistrick KJ, May SA, Pfau T. The effect of trotting speed on the evaluation of subtle lameness in horses.. Vet J 2013;197: 245–252.
    doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.03.006pubmed: 23611486google scholar: lookup
  9. Arkell M, Archer RM, Guitian FJ, May SA. Evidence of bias affecting the interpretation of the results of local anaesthetic nerve blocks when assessing lameless in horses.. Vet Rec 2006;159: 346–349.
    doi: 10.1136/vr.159.11.346pubmed: 16963714google scholar: lookup
  10. van Weeren PR, Pfau T, Rhodin M, Roepstorff L, Serra Bragança F, Weishaupt MA. Do we have to redefine lameness in the era of quantitative gait analysis?. Equine Veterinary Journal 2017: 567–569.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.12715pubmed: 28804943google scholar: lookup
  11. Pfau T. Sensor-based equine gait analysis: more than meets the eye?. UK-Vet Equine 2019;3: 102–112.
    doi: 10.12968/ukve.2019.3.3.102google scholar: lookup
  12. Rhodin M, Egenvall A, Andersen PH, Pfau T. Head and pelvic movement asymmetries at trot in riding horses in training and perceived as free from lameness by the owner.. PLoS One 2017;12.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176253pmc: PMC5404851pubmed: 28441406google scholar: lookup
  13. Pfau T, Jennings C, Mitchell H, Olsen E, Walker A, Egenvall A. Lungeing on hard and soft surfaces: Movement symmetry of trotting horses considered sound by their owners.. Equine Vet J 2016;48: 83–89.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.12374pubmed: 25297461google scholar: lookup
  14. Scheidegger MD, Gerber V, Dolf G, Burger D, Flammer SA, Ramseyer A. Quantitative gait analysis before and after a cross-country test in a population of elite eventing horses.. J Equine Vet Sci 2022;117.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2022.104077pubmed: 35820497google scholar: lookup
  15. Müller-Quirin J, Dittmann MT, Roepstorff C, Arpagaus S, Latif SN, Weishaupt MA. Riding soundness—Comparison of subjective with objective lameness assessments of owner-sound horses at trot on a treadmill.. J Equine Vet Sci 2020;95.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2020.103314pubmed: 33276930google scholar: lookup
  16. Pfau T, Parkes RS, Burden ER, Bell N, Fairhurst H, Witte TH. Movement asymmetry in working polo horses.. Equine Vet J 2016;48: 517–522.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.12467pubmed: 26037947google scholar: lookup
  17. Maliye S, Voute LC, Marshall JF. Naturally-occurring forelimb lameness in the horse results in significant compensatory load redistribution during trotting.. Vet J 2015;204: 208–213.
    doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2015.03.005pubmed: 25862395google scholar: lookup
  18. Maliye S, Marshall JF. Objective assessment of the compensatory effect of clinical hind limb lameness in horses: 37 cases (2011–2014).. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2016;249: 940–944.
    doi: 10.2460/javma.249.8.940pubmed: 27700267google scholar: lookup
  19. Dyson S, Greve L. Subjective gait assessment of 57 sports horses in normal work: A comparison of the response to flexion tests, movement in hand, on the lunge, and ridden.. J Equine Vet Sci 2016;38: 1–7.
    doi: 10.1016/J.JEVS.2015.12.012google scholar: lookup
  20. Kallerud AS, Fjordbakk CT, Hendrickson EHS, Persson-Sjodin E, Hammarberg M, Rhodin M. Objectively measured movement asymmetry in yearling Standardbred trotters.. Equine Vet J 2021;53: 590–599.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.13302pubmed: 32558997google scholar: lookup
  21. Zetterberg E, Leclercq A, Persson-Sjodin E, Lundblad J, Haubro Andersen P, Hernlund E. Prevalence of vertical movement asymmetries at trot in Standardbred and Swedish Warmblood foals.. PLoS One 2023;18: e0284105.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284105pmc: PMC10079035pubmed: 37023102google scholar: lookup
  22. Murphy J, Sutherland A, Arkins S. Idiosyncratic motor laterality in the horse.. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2005;91: 297–310.
    doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2004.11.001google scholar: lookup
  23. McGreevy PD, Rogers LJ. Motor and sensory laterality in thoroughbred horses.. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2005;92: 337–352.
    doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2004.11.012google scholar: lookup
  24. Byström A, Clayton HM, Hernlund E, Rhodin M, Egenvall A. Equestrian and biomechanical perspectives on laterality in the horse.. Comparative Exercise Physiology 2020: 35–45.
    doi: 10.3920/CEP190022google scholar: lookup
  25. Leclercq A, Lundblad J, Persson-Sjodin E, Ask K, Zetterberg E, Hernlund E. Perceived sidedness and correlation to vertical movement asymmetries in young warmblood horses.. PLoS One 2023;18: e0288043.
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288043pmc: PMC10328353pubmed: 37418437google scholar: lookup
  26. van Heel MCV, van Dierendonck MC, Kroekenstoel AM, Back W. Lateralised motor behaviour leads to increased unevenness in front feet and asymmetry in athletic performance in young mature Warmblood horses.. Equine Vet J 2010;42: 444–450.
    doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2010.00064.xpubmed: 20636782google scholar: lookup
  27. Lucidi P, Bacco G, Sticco M, Mazzoleni G, Benvenuti M, Bernabò N. Assessment of motor laterality in foals and young horses (Equus caballus) through an analysis of derailment at trot.. Physiol Behav 2013;109: 8–13.
    doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.11.006pubmed: 23201413google scholar: lookup
  28. Parente EJ, Russau AL, Birks EK. Effects of mild forelimb lameness on exercise performance.. Equine Vet J Suppl 2002;34: 252–256.
    doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2002.tb05428.xpubmed: 12405696google scholar: lookup
  29. . R: A language and environment for statistical computing.. 2023.
  30. Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B, Walker S. Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4.. Journal of Statistical Software 2015: 67: 1–48.
    doi: 10.18637/jss.v067google scholar: lookup
  31. . emmeans: Estimated marginal means, aka least-squares means, ver 1.9.1–1.. 2023.
  32. Pfau T, Scott WM, Allen TS. Upper body movement symmetry in reining Quarter Horses during trot in-hand, on the lunge and during ridden exercise.. Animals 2022; 12: 596.
    doi: 10.3390/ani12050596pmc: PMC8909210pubmed: 35268165google scholar: lookup
  33. Persson-Sjodin E, Hernlund E, Pfau T, Andersen PH, Forsström KH, Byström A. Withers vertical movement symmetry is useful for locating the primary lame limb in naturally occurring lameness.. Equine Vet J 2023; 1–13.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.13947pubmed: 37226583google scholar: lookup
  34. Buchner HHF, Savelberg HHCM, Schamhardtt HC, Barneveld A. Head and trunk movement adaptations in horses with experimentally induced fore-or hindlimb lameness.. Equine Vet J 1996; 28(1): 71–76.
    doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.1996.tb01592.xpubmed: 8565958google scholar: lookup
  35. Serra Bragança FM, Brommer H, van den Belt AJM, Maree JTM, van Weeren PR, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM. Subjective and objective evaluations of horses for fit-to-compete or unfit-to-compete judgement.. Vet J 2020;257: 105454.
    doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2020.105454pubmed: 32546354google scholar: lookup

Citations

This article has been cited 9 times.
  1. MacKechnie-Guire R, Clayton H, Byström A, Marlin D, Haussler K, Latif S, Blum N, le Jeune SS, Wanless M, Egenvall A. International Survey Exploring Rider-Perceived Sidedness of the Horse. Animals (Basel) 2025 Jul 2;15(13).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15131956pubmed: 40646855google scholar: lookup
  2. Meistro F, Ralletti MV, Rinnovati R, Spadari A. Objective Evaluation of Gait Asymmetries in Traditional Racehorses During Pre-Race Inspection: Application of a Markerless AI System in Straight-Line and Lungeing Conditions. Animals (Basel) 2025 Jun 18;15(12).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15121797pubmed: 40564348google scholar: lookup
  3. Boado A, Pollard D, Dyson S. A Retrospective Study of the Evolution of Orthopaedic Injuries in 70 Dressage Horses. Animals (Basel) 2025 Jun 12;15(12).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15121740pubmed: 40564292google scholar: lookup
  4. Calle-González N, Rivero JL, Olivares J, Miró F, Argüelles D, Requena F, Munoz A. Assessing thermal changes in the equine thoracolumbar region following different capacitive-resistive electrical transfer protocols. Front Vet Sci 2025;12:1570120.
    doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1570120pubmed: 40470277google scholar: lookup
  5. de Chiara M, Montano C, De Matteis A, Guidi L, Buono F, Auletta L, Del Prete C, Pasolini MP. Agreement between subjective gait assessment and markerless video gait-analysis in endurance horses. Equine Vet J 2026 Jan;58(1):60-67.
    doi: 10.1111/evj.14516pubmed: 40257418google scholar: lookup
  6. Poizat E, Gérard M, Macaire C, De Azevedo E, Denoix JM, Coudry V, Jacquet S, Bertoni L, Tallaj A, Audigié F, Hatrisse C, Hébert C, Martin P, Marin F, Hanne-Poujade S, Chateau H. Discrimination of the Lame Limb in Horses Using a Machine Learning Method (Support Vector Machine) Based on Asymmetry Indices Measured by the EQUISYM System. Sensors (Basel) 2025 Feb 12;25(4).
    doi: 10.3390/s25041095pubmed: 40006323google scholar: lookup
  7. O'Connell E, Dyson S, McLean A, McGreevy P. No More Evasion: Redefining Conflict Behaviour in Human-Horse Interactions. Animals (Basel) 2025 Jan 31;15(3).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15030399pubmed: 39943169google scholar: lookup
  8. Haussler KK, le Jeune SS, MacKechnie-Guire R, Latif SN, Clayton HM. The Challenge of Defining Laterality in Horses: Is It Laterality or Just Asymmetry?. Animals (Basel) 2025 Jan 21;15(3).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15030288pubmed: 39943060google scholar: lookup
  9. Clayton HM, Hobbs SJ, Rhodin M, Hernlund E, Peterson M, Bos R, Bragança FS. Vertical Movement of Head, Withers, and Pelvis of High-Level Dressage Horses Trotting in Hand vs. Being Ridden. Animals (Basel) 2025 Jan 16;15(2).
    doi: 10.3390/ani15020241pubmed: 39858241google scholar: lookup
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,780 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.