Page 109 - BSR 2022

Horses have the ability to communicate volumes through specific body postures and facial and eye expressions. It helps to
understand what you may be seeing.
BEHAVIORAL SIGNS OF PAIN
Historically, the main tool for discerning equine pain has been based on behavior. A horse that acts up may do so for no particular reason. Behavioral signs do indicate pain or discomfort. Specific signs are variable but there are many indicators that a horse is experiencing discomfort or pain:
• Lessened weight bearing on a painful limb
• Flank watching, pawing, rolling due to colic pain
• Restlessness, pawing; or depression
• Decreased activity
• Lessened interest in surroundings
• Retiring to the back of stall or paddock
• Standing with head lowered
• Decreased appetite
• Decreased socialization
• Self-mutilation, such as chewing on
painful leg
• Change in attitude and/or performance
• Rearing when ridden, especially with
problems of spine in neck or back
• Hypersensitivity of the flanks from
referred urogenital pain
• Aggression
PHYSIOLOGIC SIGNS OF PAIN
Other evident pain indicators correspond to an elevated heart rate, increases in blood cortisol and/or beta-endorphins. An elevated basal oxytocin level is another marker of reduced wellbeing. (“Basal” implies the minimal level that achieves a physiologic effect.) Oxytocin affects levels of anxiety and stress, and during periods of distress, oxytocin levels increase. Further research is required to confirm this also applies to horses.
Blink rate is associated with dopamine levels, which tend to elevate with pain, so further research on this may yield more information.
TESTING FOR PAIN
Testing a horse for pain can be accomplished in a myriad of ways. One method relies on a horse’s response to analgesics (pain killers) such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) or opioid-type medications. Withdrawal of a limb due to digital palpation or manipulation of structures is another
means a horse communicates discomfort. A device called a pressure algometer detects areas of back pain by amplifying pressure over a suspected injury until the horse reacts.
However, all of these above described methods are time consuming and don’t always completely correlate with pain because a variety of other stimuli may elicit behavioral changes or elevated heart rates.
VETERINARY VIEWS
PAIN DETECTION
by Nancy S. Loving, DVM
Behavioral signs of pain can include:
Flank watching
Aggression
Rolling due to colic pain
“Other evident pain indicators correspond to an elevated heart rate, increases in blood cortisol and/or beta-endorphins.”
SPEEDHORSE 107