Poor Performance

Optimise your horse's ability with a holistic approach to poor performance.

The horse is considered to be an elite athlete.  Since they perform at a high level small changes in their health can negatively affect their performance.  The challenge is to detect these changes using a variety of special diagnostic tests.  We feel it is important to investigate a decline in performance straight away since it often gets worse with further athletic activities.

The most common causes of poor performance can be attributed to the following 5 body systems:

It is often not clear to which specific body system the poor performance is related therefore a careful history, comprehensive physical examination and detailed evaluation of suspicious areas are necessary.

 

What to look out for

Often poor performance relates very specifically to your chosen discipline.  Dressage horses may have trouble moving in an outline or refuse manoeuvres they had no trouble with in the past like leg yielding, transitions or canters.  Show jumpers may take down more fences/rails or even refuse jumps.  Eventers can have a poor recovery i.e. a prolonged high heart rate, respiratory rate or can have trouble finishing in time.  Endurance horses may show a poor recovery or are unable to finish the ride.

Common to each discipline you may find any of the following symptoms: stumbling, signs of irritation (tail swishing, head shaking), lameness or breathing difficulties.  At rest you may notice that your horse is off its feed, does not produce a normal amount of droppings, is ‘cranky’ or has lost its shiny coat.

 

Diagnosing the problem

Because there are so many different causes of poor performance, it is very important to adopt a methodical approach and choose the appropriate diagnostic tests.  First we will take detailed clinical history and perform a complete physical examination.  Commonly medical and orthopaedic problems may run side by side and so more than one vet may be involved in your horse's case.

Often to understand what the problem is we have to look at the horse under saddle either at home or in our school at our clinic.  Then depending on these findings further tests may be carried out depending on the initial examination.

Poor performance investigations are very complex and can take some time, so scheduling additional appointments may be more convenient for you.  The first step is to book an initial appointment to assess your horse and make a plan of where to start the investigation.  Alternatively, you may prefer to contact us to discuss the case with one of our experienced vets prior to making an appointment.