Horse Hoof Motion

01/08/2026

01/08/2026

🐎Why Might A History of Respiratory Disease Increase the Risk of Lameness in Dressage Horses?🐎

A finding from a 2010 survey of dressage horse owners/riders by Dr Rachel Murray* was that horses with lameness within the past 2 years were 5.2 times more likely to have a history of respiratory disease.

Other findings of risk factors for lameness were perhaps less surprising e.g. age, height, indoor arenas, horse-walkers, lunging (as protective), back problems, arenas that become deeper in wet conditions and sand-based arenas.

So why might a history respiratory disease apparently make horses more prone to lameness? It's a question that wasn't really addressed in the paper but some experiences with clients recently made me think about this again.

❓Could it be that horses with respiratory disease had generally poorer health?
❓Could it be related to the 1:1 synchrony (linkage) between breathing and stride in trot and canter - probably the gaits the dressage horse spends most time in when training/competing?
❓Could it be that inflammation within the lung leads to systemic inflamamtion that affects the musculo-skeletal system (as in laminitis for example)?
❓Could it be shared environmental and management risk factors: Dusty stabling, poor ventilation, high particulate loads, transport stress, and intensive training predispose horses to both airway inflammation (IAD/heaves) and orthopedic problems. Horses with prior respiratory disease may already be in higher-risk environments or have reduced resilience, compounding musculoskeletal vulnerability.

❓Or are we missing something?

Why do you think respiratory disease and lameness could be linked in dressage horses?

https://askanimalweb.com/tag/horse-respiratory-problems/
https://askanimalweb.com/tag/musculoskeletal-injuries/



*Rachel Murray is a former colleague and collaborator of mine from the AHT and currently fellow member of the BEF World Class Equine Scientific Advisory Group and imaging specialist at Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons

01/08/2026

Carl Hester said of his ride at Aachen 22 years ago: “I’ve actually been last here, I hold that record. In 2004 on Escapado, that walk of shame, coming out of A, to go back through the entrance and to the stables, is probably one of the longest walks I’ve ever walked, with the horse jogging the whole way back, foaming and so over-excited. That was my Olympic preparation.”

01/08/2026

A newly published paper in Animals by Katherine Littlewood, Ngaio Beausoleil, and David Mellor revises the Five Provisions and Welfare Aims framework for the first time since 2016, aligning it more closely with the current Five Domains Model.

The Five Provisions have long served as the practical, "what to provide" companion to the Five Domains Model, which is used by over 56 organisations worldwide including WAZA and the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia.

This update addresses naming inconsistencies that had crept in as the Model itself evolved.

Provision 4 has been renamed from "Appropriate Behaviour" to "Appropriate Choices," reflecting the 2020 inclusion of human-animal interactions and 2023 work operationalizing agency through choice, control, and challenge

Provision 2 renamed from "Good Environment" to "Good Living Space," resolving overlap with Domain 4's "interactions with the environment"

Provision 5 renamed from "Positive Mental Experiences" to "Integrated Care," recognising it isn't a care input at all but rather the consistent, coordinated delivery of the first four provisions over time and across everyone who interacts with the animal

The paper also clarifies that providing good care (resources, conditions, management) is not the same as achieving good welfare (the animal's actual affective experience). A caretaker can tick every box on a provisions checklist and still not know whether the animal's mental state has actually improved, which is why each provision is now explicitly paired with a "welfare aim" naming the specific experience it should produce.

Littlewood, K. E., Beausoleil, N. J., & Mellor, D. J. (2026). Updating the Five Provisions: Aligning Welfare-Focused Care with the Five Domains Model. Animals,