Lateralised motor behaviour leads to increased unevenness in front feet and asymmetry in athletic performance in young mature Warmblood horses.
Authors: van Heel M C V, van Dierendonck M C, Kroekenstoel A M, Back W
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Editorial Summary Motor laterality—a persistent preference for leading with one limb—continues to influence hoof development and athletic symmetry well into young adulthood in Warmblood horses. This longitudinal study followed 17 clinically sound 3-year-olds previously assessed as foals and yearlings, using preference testing to quantify laterality and measuring hoof conformation, limb length, head size and movement symmetry across trot-canter transitions and free jumping. Horses displaying significant motor laterality (24% of the cohort) exhibited nearly four-fold greater hoof unevenness alongside longer limbs and proportionally smaller heads; crucially, this laterality predicted a marked bias in which diagonal the horse preferred during trot-canter transitions, though this relationship did not extend to free jumping. The findings suggest that early grazing posture and motor preference leave measurable signatures on skeletal development that persist despite training, and that asymmetrical movement patterns may compromise the horse's ability to load limbs evenly during transitions. For practitioners involved in studbook selection, young horse assessment and performance prediction, quantifying laterality offers a potentially useful screening tool; identifying horses with significant laterality might warrant closer monitoring for compensatory musculoskeletal strain and could inform ridden work strategies to promote symmetrical development.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Monitor limb preference and hoof unevenness in young horses as these traits persist to 3 years old and predict asymmetrical performance in flatwork transitions
- •Early detection of motor laterality may allow corrective farriery or training approaches before studbook selection, though jumping ability appears less affected
- •Studbook selectors should consider quantitative laterality assessment as part of breeding criteria, as this affects rideability and athletic symmetry
Key Findings
- •Significant motor laterality persisted in 24% of 3-year-old Warmblood horses, with relationship to uneven feet stronger than at earlier stages
- •Horses with motor laterality had almost 4 times more hoof unevenness and displayed smaller heads with longer limbs
- •Strong linear relationship existed between motor laterality, uneven feet, and bias in trot-canter transitions but not in free jumping
- •Motor laterality and conformation relationships identified in foals remained significant predictors of athletic asymmetry at studbook selection age