Leg Injuries in Horses

 medical attention. Always practice safety when feeling for swelling or cuts even a good horse may react strongly if it is painful.
Finally if your horse is not severely lame watch it walk and trot on a loose lead over firm level ground. If the horse is lame on one front leg the horse will nod its head. You can determine which leg is lame by carefully noticing when the head goes up and which leg has hit the ground at that moment. The horse will dip its head downward as the sound nonlame leg hits and conversely lift the head as the lame leg contacts the ground. There may be no head nod if a horse is lame on both front limbs its strides instead will be choppy and short.

If the lameness is in the hindquarters the horse will drop or raise the hip more on the side that is lame when viewed from the back. A normal horse should step with his back foot into the hoof print left by the forelimb tracking and so evaluating your horse for a shortened stride from the side may also help in localizing the  

lameness.
Causes of Leg Injuries in Horses
When looking for the site of injury start with the hooves and work your way up. Only evaluate your horse at a walk and trot if it can put some weight on the affected limb. Some of these causes will result in lameness that still allow the horse to stand weighted on all four legs while others are emergencies because they result in nonweight bearing lameness. The latter are starred with an asterisk below
Injuries to the foot
Sole bruising or tender