Application of a Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram in Icelandic horses: A pilot study
Authors: Garcia Helene Dragelund, Lindegaard Casper, Dyson Sue
Journal: Equine Veterinary Education
Summary
# Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram in Icelandic Horses: Recognising Pain in a Challenging Population The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) is a validated observational tool designed to identify musculoskeletal pain in ridden horses through standardised behavioural assessment, with scores of ≥8/24 indicating likely pain; however, its application to Icelandic horses—which perform specialised gaits including tölt—has not been established. Dragelund and colleagues adapted the RHpE to include tölt and applied it to video recordings of 30 Icelandic horses performing walk, trot, tölt and canter, assessing intra-observer repeatability and the relationship between RHpE scores and lameness grading by an independent expert. All 30 horses exhibited lameness (mostly affecting multiple limbs) and canter abnormalities, with 96% achieving RHpE scores ≥8/24 (median 10/24 across two assessments); agreement between assessments was substantial to near-perfect for 63.6% of behavioural markers, though notably there was no correlation between maximum lameness grades and RHpE scores. The substantial repeatability of the adapted RHpE suggests it can reliably identify pain-related behaviours in this population, addressing a significant clinical gap since many ridden Icelandic horses are assumed sound despite underlying lameness. Future validation using non-lame horses in appropriate tack is essential to refine gait-specific thresholds—particularly trot step frequency—and establish whether the ≥8/24 threshold requires adjustment for Icelandic breeds, which would improve practitioners' ability to recognise pain before it becomes clinically obvious.
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Practical Takeaways
- •The adapted RHpE is a repeatable tool for identifying pain in ridden Icelandic horses and may help detect lameness that riders assume is absent — consider using it alongside traditional lameness assessment
- •The very high prevalence of pain indicators (96%) in this population suggests systematic assessment of ridden horses for pain is warranted in routine practice
- •Caution needed when interpreting RHpE scores in Icelandic horses until validation is completed with non-lame horses in properly fitted tack; current threshold may need adjustment for this breed
Key Findings
- •96% of Icelandic horses scored ≥8/24 on the adapted Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram, indicating musculoskeletal pain in the majority of ridden horses
- •Substantial to near-perfect agreement achieved for 63.6% of behavioural parameters when RHpE was applied twice by a single observer
- •All 30 horses exhibited lameness (majority in >1 limb) and abnormalities of canter despite being ridden
- •No correlation found between maximum lameness grades and RHpE scores, suggesting pain ethogram and lameness grading measure different aspects