There are many reasons why a competition or racehorse may have loss of performance. These may include mild lameness, back pain, upper respiratory tract conditions, gastric ulcers, dental disease, heart or lung problems, blood disorders, reproductive issues and many more.
Investigating poor performance is often a process of elimination and may be time consuming. Unless there are additional symptoms guiding us in a different direction, we usually start the investigation with a soundness assessment. If no abnormalities are found, we go onto checking the neck and back, before assessing the teeth and so forth. Different vets may be involved in these cases and the horse may be required to stay at the clinic for a number of days to have a complete assessment.
Different diagnostic modalities such as gastroscopy, video-endoscopy of the upper and lower respiratory tract, ECG tracing, blood profiles etc. will aid in the diagnostic process.
Occasionally, no abnormalities are found and there may not be a clinical problem with the horse and the poor performance may be related to the temperament of the horse, to a limited ability of the horse and/or rider or to an incompatibility between rider and horse. In those cases, we will help you explore viable solutions.