Equinalysis Competition Winner

Amateur rider Val Janes, from Harefield in Middlesex, was the lucky winner in a recent national competition with Equinalysis, winning a video-based performance assessment for her horse Josh. Val also won Mountain Horse riding gear and a lesson with showjumper Tim Stockdale. She has owned nine year-old ‘Josh for fun’, for four years; her prize winning lesson recently appeared in Horse magazine. Video-based technology provides horse owners with a portfolio of facts and figures about their horse’s locomotion, and regular assessments have many uses; for example, if owners are getting differing opinions from various experts, e.g. their saddler, trainer, vet and physio, the screening has the potential to identify the root cause of soundness issues, for example the lower part of a particular limb. Josh was screened by Equinalysis business partner Russell Guire, based in Warwickshire. “I would say Josh is sound at present, although he has been striking holes in his outside right hind splint boot, presumably with the inside left hind foot,” Val told Russell before Josh’s screening. Russell’s report showed that Josh’s right hind limb was more upright, and that more weight was being placed on the horse’s left hind. The screening also showed that the lateral side of the hoof was being loaded first on both feet, with the right hind being more pronounced, causing a medial, lateral imbalance. “The combination of extra weight on the left hind and the incorrect hoof placement is probably the cause of the odd knock to Josh’s right splint boot when ridden,” said Russell Guire.   Val’s farrier, Jason Brown of Little Keys Forge, agrees that gait screening is a valuable tool for equine owners and farriers alike. “If done regularly, it can resolve foot balance issues that are not always obvious to the farrier from looking at balance in the traditional manner,” he says. “When I looked at Josh there wasn't a problem with his balance, so it had to be the horse’s conformation causing the gait issue. I therefore fitted a lateral extension shoe to try and straighten up his movement.” Ten weeks and two sets of remedial farriery on, and Val is impressed. “The corrective farriery definitely helped,” she says. “Josh used to strike through his offside rear splint boot repeatedly - but since Jason did the remedial work, Josh’s boots have been undamaged; I've been saved the cost of yet another pair of replacement boots.  I've also found him much easier to ride on his right, 'stiff' rein. The screening has helped us in many ways, and the report will be useful to refer back to in future.”   Equinalysis screening prices start from £95 plus VAT for an entry module and include a ‘benchmarking’ or pre-purchase module at £200 plus VAT.

 

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