A COMPELLING documentary has been released based on Dr Sue Dyson’s groundbreaking work on signs of pain in the ridden horse. The 35-minute film features world-renowned expert in equine orthopaedics Dr. Sue Dyson and her research on how ‘bad’ horse behaviour can actually be an early indicator of pain.

The film educates horse lovers on how to spot the early signs of pain while taking viewers on an emotional ride through the eyes of a young girl who loves her horse and will stop at nothing to try to figure out how to make her comfortable. It dares to challenge the way we look at horses’ behaviours and promotes the notion that lameness doesn’t start at the head bob.

“We are conditioned that many horse behaviors are normal, when they are not,” says Dr. Dyson. “We need to appreciate that what we call ‘naughty horses’ are often a reflection of underlying musculoskeletal pain.”

The film follows Dr. Dyson and Dr. Jim Myers of Gold Coast Equine, as they examine and diagnose show jumper Lauren McMahon’s beloved mare Galina. The mare was not obviously lame yet seemed increasingly unhappy under saddle. Lauren had “tried everything” to figure out what was wrong, including ulcer treatments, multiple joint injections and specialised shoeing, but Galina only became more resistant while being ridden.

Galina’s story is not uncommon for horses that do not present with an obvious head-bobbing lameness. Often these horses are labelled as ‘resistant’ or ‘lazy’, and for horses that buck or rear from pain, ‘explosive’. Trainers often tell riders to ‘push them through it’. The documentary clearly explains how wrong this approach usually is.

Watch the full film for free here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrZgtrqbMVI