Page 159 - The Veterinary Care of the Horse

holding it flexed for a period of up to one minute (Figure 4.8.) The horse is then asked to

move straight into trot. A positive response to flexion will show as an increase in the level of
VetBooks.ir lameness. The vet will look for:
•
a more pronounced nod of the head or shortening of the stride with a forelimb lameness
• increased asymmetry of the gluteal rise, further shortening of the stride or decrease in

foot flight arc with a hind limb lameness.

Figure 4.8 Flexion test

The sound limb is always flexed first because the test may occasionally cause the sore limb
to be more uncomfortable for a few minutes, making assessment of the other limb

impossible.
It is important to recognize the limitations of a flexion test. One cannot always localize

the pain to a particular area by performing a flexion test. In the forelimb, it is possible to flex
the fetlock and knee independently, but owing to the arrangement of the muscles and

ligaments in the hind limb it is impossible to flex the hock without also flexing the stifle and
the fetlock joints. Also, flexion puts different stresses on different parts of the joint. For

example, flexion of the fetlock of the forelimb raises the intra-articular pressure if the joint