Horse Back Problems & Pain Identified Using Equine Thermography

If your horse starts to display uncharacteristic tendencies such as dipping, flinching or nipping when groomed or tacked-up, a poor or reduced performance, unevenness or unlevel gaits, is crooked to ride, carries his tail to one side, is disunited or bucking into canter or rearing or bucking when mounted, it may be due to pain under saddle.
Equine Thermography can pinpoint where any issues are, allowing your chosen professional to administer a course of treatment targeted at this spot, and for you to see the results. Follow-up sessions can ensure your horse returns to work at the optimal time, and allow you to easily and graphically monitor the treatment progress.

Most bad backs in horses are actually a secondary problem. Equine Thermography can help to identify the seat of the primary cause, so this can also be rectified.

Horse Dental Pain identified using Equine Thermography

Eventing Magazine - Tendon Injuires & Tendon Health

Our Senior Thermographer, Helen Morrell, featured in Eventing Magazine for a Question & Answer session on how thermal imaging can help to keep your horse's legs in optimum condition.  As well as offering advice on how to reduce the risk of tendon injuries, you can learn why tendon injuries don't heal well, how to protect your horse's legs and why it's important to keep your horse's legs cool during gallop work.

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Equine Thermography has been shown to detect tendon injuries in your horse up to three weeks before clinical signs.  More information about how Equine Thermography can improve the health of your horse's tendons can be found on our Ligament Injury page.

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Complete MOT

Whilst Veterinary Thermal Imaging is excellent for detecting leg problems, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Further uses include identifying and assessing;

- bad backs;
- joint damage;
- muscular problems;
- dental pain;
- skin conditions;
- nerve dysfunction;
- foot balance;
- saddle fitting;

all of which could be picked up within one hour-long Imaging session.
As thermal images are objective, and graphically map the extent of an injury and healing progress, owners can review and assess treatments together with their Vet and physiotherapist, getting the horse back into work as soon as possible.

Early Warning System

During a two-year study it was shown that Veterinary Thermal Imaging could effectively and accurately pick up subtle changes in temperature prior to major injury occurring in 95% of cases, and 2-3 weeks before the trainer or Vet became aware. Of those horses that underwent clinical examination for lameness, Veterinary Thermal Imaging again correctly predicted the site of the injury in 95% of cases.

Most horses don't have just one problem associated with lameness or a bad back. Often there are other secondary causes which may be overlooked, and cause the primary problem to reoccur unless they're also treated. Thermal Imaging is an excellent tool to identify these secondary problems so they can be managed too.

Man Versus Machine

Using military-derived technology and techniques perfected over 30 years, the physiology of your horse can be objectively assessed, identifying those brewing problems. All animals are thermally symmetrical, so deviation from this indicates altered physiological processes which overlay the site of an injury or disease. Graphically mapping the temperature across the skin's surface with Veterinary Thermal Imaging instantly pinpoints problem areas.

Vets and owners have been feeling and palpating legs for centuries to gauge differences in temperature linked to injury. With the advent and application of technology, the degree of accuracy and objectivity that can be attained is far superior. The human hand can detect a difference of 2 degrees Celsius, whereas the Thermal Imaging camera used in Veterinary Thermal Imaging is 40 times more sensitive. When you consider that only a 1 degree Celsius increase may result from some sympathetic dysfunctions, without Veterinary Thermal Imaging, problems could be overlooked rather than promptly treated, which saves money, time, distress and gives better prognoses.

The Infrared Thermal Imaging Camera is the size of a camcorder, silent in operation, non-contact, emits no radiation and Imaging can be repeated as often as required. This is ideal for owners, as it removes the hassle of travelling, the need for sedation, stress in the animal, and cost; a full anatomical report costs about the same as one x-ray.