Blood test before and after exercise?

More than likely changes in the levels of enzymes in the system which will indicate how much lactic acid your horse builds up and how quickly they disperse it again. This would indicate if a horse is tying up slightly or not if you do it on a regular basis. That's just one reason for it, mostly done in racing yards. Another is to pick up viruses to see if they are affected by work or not.
 
I had this done on my old mare after an attack of azoturia. The bloods were taken in the morning then she was ridden at walk for 20 mins and the bloods taken an hour after. This was for five days, and the results came back each day with lower enzyme levels until after a week I was cleared to increase her exercise by 5mins per day until she was back in normal work. As an aside, I was only charged for 1 callout fee for the whole lot as it was a continuation of work, not individual cases, so check with your vet that it will be the case as 10 visits would have been very expensive!!
 
Conniemara1 said:
It's the next stage of investigation into why my pony is stiff in his hind end, I don't really know why though :/ thanks for reply!
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That would depend upon how long he has been stiff for, if it was a sudden onset, if it has been gradual or if it has been permanent for the length of time that you have known the pony.

If either of the first 2 then I would guess that they are looking for Tying Up or Azerturia. Both will cause stiffness/lameness in muscles because they have produced too much lactic acid and haven't been able to get rid of it as they would normally. This is frequently caused by not warming up/cooling down properly, Too much work having done nothing the previous day et al. If it has been gradual then I would say that the pony may well have tied up slightly a while ago and because work hasn't stopped and the pony been allowed to heal it has gradually got worse.

If the 3rd then they are probably looking for long, long done muscle damage which would show up in raised ck levels after working.

This is my experience of blood testing for stiffness. There could just as easily be a completely different reason. Ask your vets.
 
Thanks for that explanation! Yes I will ask vet, I just wanted an idea as to why. I saw it as a mild back prob which has been intermittent for almost a year, had vet investigate 3 months ago (and since) and seems to be a hind leg problem causing stiffness ( and back stiffness) but only slightly stiff!
 
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