New research by Dr. Rosie Owen at Liverpool University, shows that horses are injured far more frequently than thought, and the surprising findings reveal that most injuries occur during turnout rather than during riding exercises.
Dr. Owen found that 40% of horses suffered a “traumatic injury,” anything from a graze to a fracture in the course of a year. Of those, 47% required veterinary treatment. Sixty-two percent of the injuries occurred while the horse was turned out in the field. with only 13% of injuries happening during ridden exercise, while 11% occurred in the stable.
The results of the study were obtained through analyzing the responses from 652 randomly selected horse owners from north-west England, the region known as The Midlands, and North Wales. All had a horse aged 15 years or younger.
Owners sought veterinary treatment for 47% of the injuries reported, while the remainder were treated by the owner or a friend, or required no treatment.
Dr. Owen identified a number of factors that were associated with an increased risk of injury. For example, horses that had been owned for a shorter period of time were found to be significantly more at risk of injury. This increased risk may be due to aggression from other horses when a new horse is introduced to a field.
“A new horse should be introduced to the group gradually, preferably by providing adjacent stabling initially. Protective boots may help as the lower limbs are most at risk of injury. Also, if possible, the other horses in the field should have their shoes taken off during the period of adjustment, so they are less able to injure the new horse.”
Dr. Owen also found that horses turned out within larger groups were at an increased risk of injury. This is probably due to there being a larger hierarchy with multiple horses competing for dominance. She found that the risk of injury was reduced when additional feeding areas were provided in the field.
Although most of the injuries recorded in the survey occurred during turnout, 11% occurred in the stable with most of those injuries affecting the head or eye.
To reduce the risk of stable injuries, Dr. Owen suggests feeding at ground level instead of using a hay rack and making sure that no protruding nails, hooks or sharp edges are in places where horses might bump into them.
Dr. Owen said that it would be useful to conduct further research to understand how injuries occur during turnout. “A lot of injuries are reported during turnout, but we’re uncertain about what happened. It would be useful to observe the behavior of horses in the field to see whether it’s competition for food, or another factor, that is responsible for the high rate of injuries among horses.”
The most common injuries both ridden and non-ridden were the result of lower leg wounds with 10% of them being considered severe.
Lacerations, puncture wounds, scrapes and abrasions are the most common injuries, followed by contusions often the result of a kicking injury from another horse.
Many of these wounds lead to lameness because they affect the tendons, ligaments, knees, leg bones and hooves of the horses.
Insurance industry figures show that one in five horse policy-holders make a horse injury claim during any one year.