Department of Surgery and Radiology, Dr. G.C. Negi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur176 062 (HP)
Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Bidar-585 401 (Karnataka)
The present study was done to find out the occurrence of various limb deformities/conformational defects and the associated lameness in the equines of Himachal Pradesh. A total of 492 limb deformities/conformational defects were observed over a period of 3 months in 134 cases with defects. The occurrence of limb conformational defects/deformities were highest in horses (88.23%) followed by mules (84.90%) and donkeys (77.78%). Females showed greater incidence of limb defects (90.2%) as compared to males (75%). Animals <1 year and 5–8 years age group showed higher incidence of limb deformities (100% and 89.65%, respectively). Most of the limb deformities were conformational (89.55%) as compared to pathological (10.45%). Fore limbs were more frequently involved (52.23%) as compared to hind limbs alone (8.95%). Most of the animals had multiple limb deformities/conformational defects (74.63%) as compared to single defects (25.37%). Highest number of limb deformities was of “toe out” in fore limbs (in 100 cases) followed by “carpus valgus” (in 94 cases) and “tarsus valgus” (in 88 cases). In most cases there was no visible lameness (67.16%) whereas, some cases showed mild (18.65%) to moderate (10.44%) lameness; only a few cases showed severe lameness (3.73%). However, overt lameness was seen in all cases with pathological limb deformity.
