“We’ve been conditioned that many behaviors exhibited by ridden horses are normal for horses, but in fact, they’re not. They’re often a reflection of underlying musculoskeletal pain.”
Through a six-phase study spanning three years and more than 400 horses, Dr. Sue Dyson and colleagues developed The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE), a tool to “reliably predict lameness before the condition worsens into limping and other obvious signs of injuries.” In the film, “The 24 Behaviors of the Ridden Horse,” Dr. Dyson and Dr. Jim Myers of Gold Coast Equine examine and diagnose show jumper Lauren McMahon’s mare Galina, who was not obviously lame, yet seemed increasingly unhappy under saddle.
You can watch the film and follow their journey, now available on YouTube:
