Equine Health Blog

Over the last month I have been busy imaging horses with my new thermography camera.  What an exciting time I’ve had, it has been extremely interesting to have a look at a horse from an equine therapists view and then to turn the camera on and see the areas that show up hot.  The one thing that has become apparent is that it is not always the areas that show up hot as being the problem areas.  For example, a horse that has heat in its left front leg and shoulder may infact be using that leg more to take weight off the right leg, the right leg maybe cold but when looking again at the images you might see an area in the tendon,knee or joint that is causing the horse to shift it weight onto the left leg.   This is the reason why I have a vet in the US who is reporting on my thermal images.  I have had a lot on enquires from owner/trainers who want to just take the images to their own vet.   Most vets will be able to see the hot spots but to correctly diagnose off the thermal images you need a vet that is experienced at reading the images.

Dr D Harper is one of only four DVM’s that is certified into the American Academy of thermography and has preformed extensive research into equine thermography.  The reports that I have got back so far have been extremely accurate and insightful, not to mention how helpful it has been to the owners and trainers.