Horse vetting flexion testing

[rockinghorse]

I have had horses vetted before purchased & one pony vetted prior to being sold to wonderful new owner. All passed & included flexion test but I am still naive about this. ((Apologies)) I know that after carrying out this test it can show potential lameness but I have never enquired why & how. I have googled but it just explains that it can show lameness & that if carried out by an inexperienced vet can also incur damage!!!
Can someone shed some light on this please???? Thank you

 

[jenh166]

It just highlights potential/developing problems, as the point of the test is to stress the joints slightly (within the limitations that a normal horse wouldn't react) but a horse with a lurking problem will react. However, it can't be correlated directly to a certain joint or problem, it is an insensitive test. If a horse is negative to flexion (i.e. trots away sound) then that result can be interpreted fairly confidently. However, if a horse trots away unsound, the test needs interpreting very carefully, as they can fail flexion due to joint problems, supensory problems, splints that get aggrevated, or just if the horse has a slight valgus/varus that puts a bit of extra pressure on one part of the joint. Vets are told never to try and nerve block a flexion test result, just interpret them in light of other clinical signs.
As to incurring damage, I would have thought that was highly unlikey, unless the horse is already injured in which case you're not really making the damage any worse. However, if you try hard enough, any vet can make almost any horse lame on flexion! So you need an expreienced vet who takes the results with a pinch of salt. They are important, as they are the only way to get a guidance on what may be going on without invasive or expensive tests!