Neurological Lameness

Separating a lameness caused by a musculoskeletal problem from a neurological lameness, which can be tricky to recognize and sometimes difficult to diagnose. A neurological lameness may first present because of performance problems. Neurological signs owners might see and how they diagnose a neurological lameness are important areas for equine practitioners. Lameness, or an abnormal stance or gait may be caused by a structural or a functional disorder of the locomotor system. Neurological lameness can be caused by a bacterial, viral, protozoal, or rickettsial infection, trauma, congenital or developmental disease, degenerative diseases neoplasia and in some cases toxicities. The most common infectious causes of a neurological lameness include tetanus, botulism, Lyme disease, Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), rabies, West Nile virus, equine encephalitis virus, and equine herpesvirus. Gait deficits caused by neurological diseases can be quite similar to ones caused by musculoskeletal diseases and distinguishing features can be subtle. A simple description of the difference between lameness and ataxia is that, ‘A lame horse is regularly irregular, and an ataxic horse is irregularly irregular.” Musculoskeletal lameness’s tend to be predictable (happen every step), and neurological lameness’s are more likely to be unpredictable. Many horses have both neurological and musculoskeletal disease and are
even trickier to figure out. Deficits seen in a horse with ataxia include weakness, ataxia, dysmetria, and spasticity. Weakness is characterized by knuckling, stumbling, dropping, or dragging of a toe, and can be seen with lame and neurological conditions. Ataxia is abnormal foot placement or lack of coordination. […]