16/09/2024
I hear this phrase ALL the time and every time I do my heart breaks for the horse in question.
It is a very big misconception in the industry that pain can be ruled out in the horse.
What leads to this statement can also vary drastically from person to person.
The horse might have had a quick muscle palpation, they might have just been scoped for ulcers, or they might have had a very extensive (and expensive!) veterinary work up over days or months.
Regardless, you cannot rule out pain. You might not be able to find a source, but you cannot rule out pain.
Ask any human who has not received an immediate diagnosis for their pain or not been listened to regarding their own health concerns.
Pain does not have a blood test or a specific color or feel.
Pain can be obvious, it can be concealed, it can be complex, it can be poorly understood.
There are certain things, like gastric ulcers, that can be definitively ruled in or out as a SOURCE of pain with a gastroscopy.
But it is the horse’s behavior that says whether pain is or isn’t present. And unfortunately, very often pain in the horse is not a simple thing to diagnose and cure.
When a trainer, owner, rider, or vet says “we have ruled out pain” it is often an invitation to train the horse with harsher methods to overcome performance or behavioral problems.
If the horse refuses to do something, doesn’t cooperate, struggles with tasks, has a change in behavior, or exhibits behaviors that have been scientifically studied to indicate pain in the horse (such as the equine discomfort ethogram and ridden horse pain ethogram)….ALWAYS keep in mind that just because it can’t be located, DOES NOT mean a horse is not in pain.
