Type, prevalence, and risk factors for the development of orthopedic injuries in endurance horses during training and competition.

This research explores the types, prevalence, and risk factors associated with orthopedic injuries in endurance horses during training or competitions. The findings reveal a high occurrence of orthopedic injuries in these horses, particularly affecting areas such as the fetlock area, metacarpal area, and foot, with risk factors including age, conformation fault of forelimbs, and amateur status.

Objective and Methodology

• This study aimed to identify the type, prevalence, and risk factors for development of orthopedic injuries in endurance horses. To do this, researchers examined the medical records of 235 endurance horses over a span of eleven years, from January 2007 to December 2018.
• The data collected included the horse’s birth, breed, sex, dates of first and last examinations, presence of any conformation fault, lameness, positive flexion test result, and orthopedic injury. Additionally, information regarding the horse’s participation in endurance competitions, level of athletic activity, professional status of the trainer or the rider, and whether an orthopedic injury developed in more than one limb were also recorded.

Results

• In the study, 76.6% of the horses developed 351 orthopedic injuries. The most common injury location was the fetlock area (27.1%), followed by the proximal portion of the metacarpal area (21.4%), the foot (21.1%), the tarsus (12.8%), the midportion of the metacarpal area (9.1%), and 8.5% in other sites.
• The most common conditions detected were high suspensory disease (21.4%), followed by arthropathy of the metacarpo- or metatarsophalangeal joint (19.4%) and solar pain (14%).

Risk Factors

• Risk factors correlating to the development of orthopedic injuries include age at first examination, months of observation, conformation fault of forelimbs, and amateur status.
• Using a statistical measure called multivariable logistic regression model, a significant relationship was found between these factors and incidence of orthopedic injuries.

Conclusions

• The study concluded that a large number of endurance horses tend to develop at least one orthopedic injury during training or competitions, indicating that these horses were at high risk.
• Therefore, it suggested that clinical and diagnostic examinations should focus on particular areas of these horses, including the metacarpophalangeal joints, proximal portion of the metacarpal area, and the foot.