Lameness in the Driving Horse

Chapter 124Lameness in the Driving Horse



Kevin P. Keane, Graham Munroe



Description of the Sport


This chapter deals with horses used for competitive driving purposes, those driven privately for pleasure, and those used as beasts of burden as a mode of transportation. The sport of driving horses in competition is relatively new and has many variations, requiring different types of horses performing different tasks. Certain breeds or breed types are perfectly suitable for one form of driving sport but not another, and variation in the size, type, and breed of horse used is considerable. Horses and ponies are used, and the term horse is used in this chapter to refer to both, except when specific reference to a pony is required.


In the United Kingdom and Europe there is a much greater availability of a variety of driving competitions than currently exists in North America. The sport is growing in Australia, South Africa, and South America. Pleasure driving includes presentation classes in the show ring and general driving on roads and tracks. Presentation classes are grouped broadly into hackney and nonhackney types, the difference being based on the phenotype of the horse as opposed to a breed registry. A competitor pays close attention to the harness, the attire of the driver, and an appropriate carriage to suit the horse, because judging is subjective and relies on strict adherence to tradition, based on a suitable match of horses and carriage. The horses perform movements requested by the judges, and style and quality of the gaits are scored subjectively. These horses compete at the walk and trot (a park pace being roughly equal to a slow working trot). Pleasure driving events also can include drives at the walk or trot on roads and tracks of up to 5 to 10 miles.


Competitive driving includes combined driving or horse driving trials and scurry driving. Scurry driving is seldom seen in North America but has a strong following in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. Scurry driving consists of a single horse (mainly ponies) or more commonly pairs of horses competing over a tight, coned course in a show ring against the clock. The horses and carriages are often small to allow the narrow gates (the gap between a pair of cones) and corners to be negotiated at speed. Horse driving trials are a driven form of horse trials, or eventing, and like its ridden counterpart, driving is a highly athletic, physically demanding sport for the horse and driver.


Driving trials as an international equestrian sport started in 1968, when the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) international rules were drawn up under the instigation of HRH Prince Philip, who was then the President of the Federation. The first international horse driving trials event took place in 1971 in Hungary. Initially the competition was only for horse teams (four-in-hand). A team is composed of four horses, two before two; those in front are called leaders, and those closer to the coach, wheelers. As the sport developed and individuals of more modest means entered the fray, competitions for singles (one horse), tandems (two horses harnessed one behind the other), and pairs (two horses harnessed side by side) rapidly blossomed. These classes were further divided into those for ponies (less than 148 cm or 14.2 hands high) and horses. The sport is now structured at various levels depending on the ability of the driver and horse(s). Disabled driving has recently been introduced. The FEI is responsible for the international rules that cover the World and European championships and selected international events such as the Royal Windsor International Driving Grand Prix. The national associations liaise with the FEI and are responsible for running the national events and championships and producing national rules. Local driving clubs (found in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States) also run local events that may differ substantially in standards and requirements of competitors, but they essentially mimic FEI rules. Important events include the Royal Windsor (United Kingdom), Aachen and Riesenbeck (Germany), Breda (Holland), Saumur (France), Waregem (Belgium), St Gallen (Switzerland), and Fair Hill (United States). World championships are held every 2 years for singles, pairs, and teams for horses, and a European championship is held for pony teams. The World Equestrian Games, held every 4 years, which also host World Championships, allow four-in-hands only to compete. The first World Pony Championships (singles, pairs, and teams) were held in Saumur in 2003. Competitions in Europe run from April to September, with championships held toward the end of this period. However, in the last 5 years there has been a growth in indoor driving events, culminating in the FEI World Cup, which is a series of events within Europe. Indoor driving competitions often consist of three phases: precision and paces, cone driving, and time driving through marathon obstacles.


Horse driving trials consist of three phases—dressage, marathon, and cones—usually spread over 3 days, but in lower standard competition all three may take place over 1 to 2 days. The first phase is a driven dressage test, which consists of a set sequence of movements that are judged by a number of officials against a standard of absolute perfection. The test is designed to highlight the obedience, paces, and suppleness of the horse(s), and the skill of the driver in handling of the reins. The second stage is the marathon, which tests the fitness and stamina of the horse(s) and the judgment of pace and horsemanship of the driver. The cross-country marathon can be divided into three or five sections (depending on the level of competition); for each section a maximum and minimum time are allowed (Table 124-1).



TABLE 124-1 Basic Format of the Five-Stage Marathon

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The speeds and time allowances are adjusted for different classes, especially ponies. At the end of sections B and D are mandatory 10-minute halts. During the second of these, the horses are subjected to veterinary checks for lameness, injuries, and fitness (respiratory rate, pulse rate, dehydration, temperature, and speed of recovery). Section E has eight obstacles. Each obstacle is made up of a number (up to six) of lettered gates. The aim is to drive through these gates (between white and red markers) within each obstacle in the correct alphabetical sequence in the shortest possible time. Most injuries occur on the marathon, although lameness may not become apparent until later, just before the third phase, the cone competition. The object of the cone phase is to test the fitness and suppleness of the horse after the marathon phase by driving through a course of narrowly spaced pairs of cones (up to a maximum of 20) within an allotted time. Each cone has a ball balanced on top of it that is dislodged easily if the horse or carriage strikes the cone. The winner of the competition is the competitor with the fewest penalty points.


Veterinary inspections of horses taking part in an event also occur before the dressage day, at the end of the marathon, and at the beginning of the cone competition. Lameness at any of these inspections usually leads to elimination from the event, although considerable variation exists in the definition of working soundness among veterinarians, particularly regarding hindlimb problems.


Horses used by Amish and Mennonite sects (United States) as beasts of burden are nearly always Standardbreds or American Saddlebred horses and are driven as singles. The horses are driven when needed, with no structured fitness training, and lameness is common.



Types of Horses Used


The type of horses used for driving varies considerably with the particular form of the sport or use to be undertaken. For pleasure and presentation driving, the type of horse used is related mainly to the size and type of the carriage and the overall effect the driver is trying to convey to the judges (e.g., country or town turnout, meaning an informal or formal appearance of the coach, harness, and driver’s attire). Horses used include Shires, Clydesdales, and Percherons in heavy horse turnouts such as drays; Hackneys (including crosses), Thoroughbreds, and Warmbloods in smart town turnouts; Cobs, larger pony types such as Welsh Cobs, Welsh Section C, Dales, Fells, Fiordlanders, and Friesians in country turnouts; and smaller pony types such as Welsh Mountain Section A, Shetlands, New Forest, and Dartmoor in small carriage turnouts. The aforementioned breeds primarily cover the variety seen in the United Kingdom and Europe. In the United States Warmblood, Warmblood crosses, Welsh, Hackney, Morgan, and Friesians are used most often for pleasure and driving trials. Most presentation and pleasure driving is undertaken with a single horse turnout. The horses range from 4 to 20 years of age, and many have been or are used for other equestrian disciplines. Scurry driving usually involves single or pairs of small ponies or pony-type horses such as Shetlands, Welsh Mountain, New Forest, and Dartmoor. These ponies are often younger than pleasure-driving horses and are less likely to be used for other equestrian sports, except perhaps combined driving trials.


Horses used for driving trials must be older than 4 years of age before they can compete, and records show 19-year-old horses competing at world championship level. Many of the best driving trial horses are 12 to 19 years of age and have been used earlier for other purposes. This long working life and slow introduction to work at a young age, together with little high-speed and more slow-speed conditioning work and regular winter breaks, has a considerable effect on the type of lameness seen in these horses. The types of horses and ponies used vary greatly. In continental Europe, Warmblood breeds are particularly popular; for example, Gelderlanders, Swedish Warmbloods, Dutch Warmbloods, Hanoverians, and Holsteiners, with a modern trait being ever-increasing size. In the United Kingdom less uniformity occurs in the horses used; for example, Hackney crosses, Cobs, Welsh Cobs, Lipizzaners, Lusitanians, Orlovs, and some Warmbloods and Thoroughbred crosses. The most popular ponies used for driving trials in Europe are Welsh Sections A, B, and C, Haflingers, and New Forest crosses.


In the practice radius of one of the authors (KK) is a unique opportunity to observe, evaluate, and diagnose lameness conditions in driving horses used by members of the Amish and Mennonite religious sects as a mode of transportation. Several regions throughout North America have populations large enough to provide a reasonable number of horse owners for which to provide veterinary services. The incidence of lameness is influenced by the necessity of driving reasonably long distances on asphalt surfaces (up to 30 miles [48 km] in one day), with sometimes a single horse pulling a Meadowbrook cart containing up to seven family members. Electricity is not used by the Amish sect and is consequently not available, so a veterinarian must be guided by the ability to palpate precisely and interpret the findings often without the adjunct diagnostic procedures relied on daily, such as radiography and ultrasonography. The veterinarian also faces great pressure because a lame horse may strand an Amish owner.



Training


The training regimen for driving horses varies considerably depending on the type of driving to be undertaken and the level of competition to be attempted. Top-class horse driving trial horses require a regimented fitness program of up to several hours daily, with techniques for such fitness varying from trainer to trainer. In addition some time is spent practicing cone driving, and hazard training through schooling obstacles set up to mimic what is seen in competition. In pleasure or presentation driving, horses normally are worked intermittently, mainly on roads and tracks at the walk and trot, usually in the summer months, with a rest or turnout to grass in the winter. With the introduction of indoor winter competition, winter breaks may be reducing. In scurry driving the training required is more intense, with a combination of regular road work at the walk and trot to increase overall fitness, alongside school and field work concentrating on bending, suppleness, and turning at speed with accuracy. The scurry driving season can extend over longer periods of the year, when competition comes indoors. Amish horses attain a less quantitative level of fitness through irregular use and essentially no training.


Conditioning exercise tends to start in February, aiming for the first events in late April. Competitions are then available almost every weekend (Thursday to Sunday) throughout the summer, culminating in the national and international championships in August to October.


The type or breed of horse used in driving and the way the horse is trained have an important effect on the type and incidence of lameness. Differences in conformation, gait, and size have an influence. Generally, ponies are less likely to develop lameness, are easier to train to fitness, and are more agile. When compared with horses, pony conformation and foot shape are better and they carry less weight. Unfortunately, alongside this general toughness is all too frequently allied a “cussed” temperament. Cob-types are similar to ponies in temperament and hardiness but are heavier and more powerful, often leading to low-grade osteoarthritis (OA) in later life. They often require considerable training to allow the necessary control and obedience to be obtained. Welsh Cobs and hackney-types and crosses have particularly exaggerated natural forelimb actions, which over long periods of use may increase wear-and-tear injuries in the forelimbs such as metacarpophalangeal joint problems. Some of the larger breeds, such as the Warmbloods, have poor conformation, especially in the hindlimbs, such as straight in the stifle and hock, which has a major effect on the incidence of lameness. Most driving horses are not broken to harness until they are 3 to 4 years old and are not worked until they are 5 to 6 years old. Therefore conditions prominent at an earlier age, such as osteochondrosis of the tarsus and stifle, are uncommon.


The incidence of lameness in driving horses is much influenced by a long working life; the training, which is mainly flat work at the walk and trot; the different stresses and strains placed on them by the carriage (increased pressure on the hindlimbs, especially distally); the regular rest periods during the driving career; slow start in life; and whether they have been used for other purposes, previously or concurrently. All of these factors contribute to a low incidence of lameness, especially from fractures or acute soft tissue injuries seen in racehorses, but an increased incidence of low-grade wear-and-tear injuries, particularly of the hindlimb joints. In recent years the increasing competition and prestige at the top end of the sport, particularly internationally, have led to increased demands on horses, less patience to wait for horses to mature or to become seasoned, and consequently more lameness.



Ground Conditions


Training is usually carried out on roads or tracks of varying surfaces, depending on the region and country involved. In the United Kingdom this is mainly tarmacadam roads and firm tracks, whereas in the eastern United States, tarmacadam, dirt, and gravel roads and precut paths through agricultural fields predominate. Training for dressage and cones is usually in grass paddocks, although some drivers have access to all-weather areas. The variable, often hilly terrain in the United Kingdom and United States helps develop fitness. In Europe some of the competitions and areas for training are flat and have a sandy soil, which gives an even, absorbent, good surface for exercise. The firm surfaces on which many driving horses train and work tend to increase concussion to the feet and joints; recent evidence has shown bone density is increased (strengthened) by driving on such surfaces, but firm surfaces are unlikely to prevent injury to tendons and ligaments as was once thought. Repeated concussion over many years may contribute to low-grade joint disease and means that good foot conformation and shoeing are imperative to help offset some of this constant trauma. The variable and unpredictable ground conditions present on marathon courses contribute to injuries to joints, such as the fetlock, and to ligaments and the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS).



Conformation


The huge variety of breeds and types of horses used in driving means that no particular traits of conformation have been established as representative of this type of work. Many of the Warmbloods, which are the most common breeds on the continent of Europe and are now becoming so popular elsewhere in the world for riding and driving, have a conformation that appears to predispose them to OA of the distal hock joints. The hindlimbs are often straight through the hock and stifle, but some horses are sickle hocked and cow hocked. There is a high prevalence of osteochondrosis in Warmbloods, especially of the tarsocrural and stifle joints, which may manifest itself later in the working life of the horse. The headlong dash in recent years for bigger and stronger Warmblood driving horses has in our opinion led to a heavier, less agile horse, often with small feet and limited bone, which cannot help the horse cope with work over the many years that the horse is driven. Foot conformation in some of the carriage breeds, such as the Hackney, Orlov, Gelderlander, and Lipizzaner, can be upright and boxy, which may decrease concussion protection by the foot and increase trauma reflected up the limb. Many of the native breeds or crosses have good conformation and inherent limb soundness, which is reflected in their low level of lameness. The exception to this statement is the pleasure or presentation pony that is worked irregularly and kept at grass in the summer. The overweight (show condition) nature of these ponies and the access to large amounts of grass predispose them to laminitis, which more reflects owner management than suggests inherent unsoundness.



Lameness Examination


Examination of lameness in the driving horse differs little from the standard approach. The major objectives are to decide if the horse is lame, to determine which limb or limbs and which portion or portions of the limb(s) are affected, and to determine a pathological process. This process is complicated in a driving horse, particularly as the horse ages, because of the possibility of old or unimportant lesions and the low-grade and often bilateral nature of some causes of lameness. Further problems are related to intermittent or variable lameness. Identification of lameness is more difficult in a driving horse when being driven, especially lameness in a hindlimb, than in a ridden horse.


The history should consist of typical questions asked before any standard lameness evaluation—for example, how the lameness was first recognized, what the duration of the lameness has been, whether the lameness is worse on hard or soft ground, and whether the horse has responded to any treatments used. In addition, because driving horses are exercising between two poles that are parallel to the ground, straightness is generally fairly easy for the driver to observe. Is the horse resting one hip on the right or left shaft? Is the horse leaning more on one rein than the other? With pairs and four-in-hand, is one horse taking more of the workload, indicating unwillingness of the other horse to pull an equal load? Have any changes in tack or harness been made? The veterinarian should observe the stance and attitude of the horse, areas of muscle atrophy, limb and foot conformation, and the presence of swellings before assessing the horse moving in hand at the walk and trot on a hard, flat surface. Examination in harness and carriage is rarely useful, because lameness is sometimes less evident while the horse is pulling, rather than moving freely and without restriction on a lunge line. When a driver or trainer feels that the lameness for which the horse is being presented is observed only when in work, that is, driven, seeing the horse in harness then may be necessary. Standard flexion tests of the forelimbs and hindlimbs are useful, but as a horse ages the likelihood of a positive result in an otherwise working, sound horse increases. Exercise on the lunge or in hand on a circle is helpful in horses with bilateral or mild lameness. Exercise on different surfaces (hard and soft) and when possible on a slight incline uphill and downhill can be useful.

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  4. The Carpal Canal and Carpal Synovial Sheath

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Jun 4, 2016 | Posted by in EQUINE MEDICINE | Comments Off on Lameness in the Driving Horse

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