Flexion Tests

Yes i bought my last mare after she failed her flexion, i personally do not like them. if someone was to hold my leg up for 30 secs and ask me to run id struggle and im quite fit! i could more into why u dont like them but i wont. my mare has been sound (touches wood) since i bought her wheras her stable mate who is 5 and had full 5* vetting is done, and cannot be ridden!
 
My friend got a horse vetted, was sound b4 flexion tests and came up lame in a straight line on three legs after!!

My horse chipped his navicular bone last year and is sound on a straight line with flexion test but comes up 1/5 lame on a circle on a hard surface(fine in arena)
 
I never put too much importance on flexion tests, totally agree with Mazziek. I'd be well lame too if someone held my leg like that. Never had a horse vetted, never had a horse with any major problem. I think most lameness is cause by horses being underworked, keep in stables and people scrutinising their horses too closely, for every slight movement abberation away from perfection. Lameness in horses seems to be on the increase in 21st century, I often wonder if it relates more to the veterinary professions ability to investigate in far greater depth than they were ever able to in the past.
 
i had a horse today that failed a vetting on a flexion test, however we are getting him re-vetted next week to do anouther flexion test only because we know the sorce of the lameness was a slight kick in the field over a whose the pile of haylage belonged to, horses will be horses i guess
 
It's quite easy to make any horse appear lame following a flexion test by holding the leg incorrectly so I would never rely on them as a means to judge soundness. If you have real concerns then I would ask the vet to carry out more detailed tests i.e scans.
 
Flexion tests, done correctly, are a good assesement of the horses limb soundness. It also depends on what you are buying the horse for. So, If I wanted a nice cob for hacking and he was a little off in the flexion I wouldn't really worry, but if I was paying for an event horse which failed the flexion, then I wouldn't carry on. And while I would agree you can do a test badly - that should not be happening when a vet is doing it!
 
I think the tests depend very much on who is doing them, the purpose of the test and which joints you are specifically flexing. They can be very much a blunt instrument in diagnostic terms, but well done, to test each joint properly, they reveal a lot and give a good indication of which steps to take next.
 
the watcher said:
I think the tests depend very much on who is doing them, the purpose of the test and which joints you are specifically flexing. They can be very much a blunt instrument in diagnostic terms, but well done, to test each joint properly, they reveal a lot and give a good indication of which steps to take next.
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I agree with this. My vet will discuss the result of flexion tests and implications for the work required of the horse, rather than just a straight pass/fail. He says you can make any horse lame with a flexion test - it is down to how you perform it and how you interpret the results. Which means having a good vet whose judgement you trust who will talk through the outcome of the flexion test with you - then they can be very useful, I think.
 
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