Alterations in body lean angle in lame horses before and after diagnostic analgesia in straight lines in hand and on the lunge

Five and eight horses had unilateral and bilateral hindlimb lameness, respectively. Two of five horses with unilateral and three of eight horses with bilateral lameness leaned more on the rein with the lame or lamer hindlimb on the inside of the circle (difference between reins 5-8°). Two of five horses with unilateral and two of eight horses with bilateral lameness leaned more on the rein with the lame or lamer hindlimb on the outside of the circle (4-10°). Four horses, one with unilateral and three with bilateral lameness, had only 1° difference in body lean angle between left and right reins. When lameness was improved by diagnostic analgesia, the body lean changed significantly towards similar leaning on left and right reins (mean angle changed from 8.8° to 10.0° (P = 0.03) on one rein and 13.4° to 10.8° (P = 0.002) on the other rein). It was concluded that body lean becomes more symmetrical between reins after improvement in lameness using diagnostic analgesia.