Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Equine Vet J. 2024 May;56(3):617-630. doi: 10.1111/evj.13998. Epub 2023 Sep 7.
Lameness assessment in the gaited Icelandic horse is complex. We aimed to describe their kinematic and temporal adaptation strategies in response to forelimb lameness at walk, trot and tölt.
In vivo experiment.
Ten clinically non-lame Icelandic horses were measured before and after reversible forelimb lameness induction. Upper body and limb kinematics were measured using 11 inertial measurement units mounted on the poll, withers, pelvis (tubera sacrale) and all four limbs and hoofs (Equimoves®, 500 Hz). Horses were measured on a straight line at walk and trot in-hand and at walk, trot and tölt while ridden. Linear mixed models were used to compare baseline and lame conditions (random factor = 'horse'), and results are presented as the difference in estimated marginal means or percentage of change.
Lameness induction significantly (p < 0.05) increased head vertical movement asymmetry at walk (HDmin/HDmax: 18.8/5.7 mm, HDmin/HDmax: 9.8/0.3 mm) and trot (HDmin/HDmax: 18.1/7.8 mm, HDmin/HDmax: 24.0/9.3 mm). At the tölt, however, HDmin did not change significantly (1.1 mm), but HDmax increased by 11.2 mm (p < 0.05). Furthermore, pelvis vertical movement asymmetry (PDmax) increased by 4.9 mm, sound side dissociation decreased (-8.3%), and sound diagonal dissociation increased (6.5%). Other temporal stride variables were also affected, such as increased stance duration of both forelimbs at walk, tölt and in-hand trot.
Only one degree of lameness (mild) was induced with an acute lameness model.
Classical forelimb lameness metrics, such as vertical head and withers movement asymmetry, were less valuable at tölt compared to walk and trot, except for HDmax. Therefore, it is advised to primarily use the walk and trot to detect and quantify forelimb lameness in the Icelandic horse.
步态分析评估冰岛马的跛行较为复杂。本研究旨在描述它们在慢步、快步和跑步时，前肢跛行的运动学和时间适应策略。
体内实验。
10 匹临床无跛行的冰岛马在可逆性前肢跛行诱导前后进行测量。使用安装在额骨、肩隆、骨盆（荐骨结节）和四肢及蹄部（Equimoves®，500Hz）的 11 个惯性测量单元，测量上半身和四肢的运动学。马匹在直线上慢步和快步牵行，以及跑步时慢步、快步和跑步。线性混合模型用于比较基线和跛行条件（随机因素=“马”），结果以估计边缘均值的差异或百分比变化表示。
跛行诱导显著（p<0.05）增加了慢步时的头部垂直运动不对称性（HDmin/HDmax：18.8/5.7mm，HDmin/HDmax：9.8/0.3mm）和快步时（HDmin/HDmax：18.1/7.8mm，HDmin/HDmax：24.0/9.3mm）。然而，在跑步时，HDmin 没有显著变化（1.1mm），但 HDmax 增加了 11.2mm（p<0.05）。此外，骨盆垂直运动不对称性（PDmax）增加了 4.9mm，同侧分离减少（-8.3%），对侧对角分离增加（6.5%）。其他时间步变量也受到影响，例如，慢步、跑步和牵行快步时，双侧前肢的支撑期延长。
仅使用急性跛行模型诱导了一个跛行程度（轻度）。
与慢步和快步相比，除了 HDmax 之外，在跑步时，传统的前肢跛行度量，如头部和肩隆的垂直运动不对称性，价值较低。因此，建议主要使用慢步和快步来检测和量化冰岛马的前肢跛行。
