Return to sport activity following ultrasonographic diagnosis and conservative management of spontaneous injuries of the serratus cervicis ventralis and serratus thoracis ventralis muscles in 11 endurance horses.

Objective: To describe the clinical diagnosis, ultrasound findings, and outcome of 11 endurance horses with injuries to the serratus ventralis thoracis (SVT) or serratus ventralis cervicis (SVC) muscle.

Animals: 11 endurance horses competing in medium- to high-level competitions and presenting with lameness caused by injuries to the SVT or SVC muscle, as confirmed by ultrasonography.

Clinical Presentation: Physical examinations revealed swelling caudal to the shoulder region associated with dorsocranial displacement of the scapula and edema of the ventral thorax for horses with SVT injuries.

Water depth and speed may have an opposite effect on the trunk vertical displacement in horses trotting on a water treadmill.

Objective: To measure the trunk vertical displacement (VD) in horses trotting on a water treadmill (WT) at different water depths (WDs) and speeds.

Animals: 6 sound Standardbred horses (median age 12 years [IQR:10.5-12]).

Development of a Methodology for Low-Cost 3D Underwater Motion Capture: Application to the Biomechanics of Horse Swimming.

Hydrotherapy has been utilized in horse rehabilitation programs for over four decades. However, a comprehensive description of the swimming cycle of horses is still lacking. One of the challenges in studying this motion is 3D underwater motion capture, which holds potential not only for understanding equine locomotion but also for enhancing human swimming performance.

Asymmetry Thresholds Reflecting the Visual Assessment of Forelimb Lameness on Circles on a Hard Surface.

The assessment of lameness in horses can be aided by objective gait analysis tools. Despite their key role of evaluating a horse at trot on a circle, asymmetry thresholds have not been determined for differentiating between sound and lame gait during this exercise. These thresholds are essential to distinguish physiological asymmetry linked to the circle from pathological asymmetry linked to lameness.

Acupuncture has potential in managing axial stiffness in steeplechase racehorses: a blinded prospective randomized preliminary study.

Objective: Evaluate the short-term effects of acupuncture on the dynamic manifestations of axial stiffness in steeplechase racehorses.

Animals: 12 steeplechase racehorses presenting signs of axial stiffness during training.

Methods: Horses were randomly assigned to either an acupuncture treatment by an experienced certified acupuncturist (n = 6) or no treatment as negative controls (6).