The Horse First: A Veterinary Sport Horse Podcast

Dr. Audrey DeClue brings her blog posts to the podcast with commentary as she discusses the importance of understanding body lameness in horses. 85-90% of lameness has historically been focused on limbs and feet instead of looking a the horse as a whole body. She highlights common performance issues caused by body lameness and explains these issues in terms of biomechanics. 

[Description from the EquiScience Podcast #21 with Elisa Walfish]

In this episode I sit down with Dr. Audrey DeClue, an equine veterinarian known for challenging long-standing assumptions in equine medicine. Together, we explore the concept of body lameness, why biomechanics should play a central role in every lameness examination, and how collaboration between veterinarians, bodyworkers, farriers, saddle fitters, trainers, and owners can dramatically improve outcomes for horses.

Dr. DeClue shares the experiences that transformed her approach to veterinary medicine, the...

Dr. Audrey DeClue welcomes Dr. Gabrielle Martel to discuss the complexities of treating body lameness in horses. Dr. Martel, a veterinarian from Montreal, shares her journey of treating horses with body lameness, emphasizing the importance of understanding horse biomechanics and the need for a comprehensive approach. They discuss the challenges of treating horses with conditions like sleep deprivation, idiopathic head shaking, and sciatica, highlighting the veterinary profession's slow acceptance of these issues. Dr. Martel shares her experience of working with Dr. DeClue and learning the importance of slowing down and being present with the horses.  

Dr. Audrey DeClue and Dr. Sue Dyson discuss the importance of a rider's checklist from the stall, tacking up, and under saddle for assessing a horse's physical well-being with considerations to determine if your horse is lame. They emphasize the need for veterinarians to better understand that a horse's consistent behavior is indicative of pain. They stress the significance of proper saddle/equipment fit, gait analysis – including how a normal and abnormal horse "feels" in its body while ridden under saddle – and the impact of these abnormalities that can impact pain not previously diagnosed in sport horses. 

Dr. Audrey DeClue and Dr. Kate Workman discuss Equine Cervical Vertebral Malformation (ECVM) in horses, emphasizing its clinical significance. They critique various research papers, noting discrepancies, limitations, and methodological issues. Dr. DeClue and Dr. Workman stress the importance of accurate grading and understanding the practical implications of ECVM for horse owners and veterinarians. They advocate for better education and documentation to prevent injuries and ensure safe horse management. They also discuss the need for better communication and data sharing among practitioners to advance the field.

Dr. Audrey DeClue has an impromptu conversation with a trainer discussing the importance of understanding a horse's soundness, the impact of proper body lameness treatment and the lack of mechanical or manufactured training "aides" and "tools" needed for a horse to achieve optimum performance and whole body soundness. The conversation underscores that how a horse "feels" under saddle as a rider is more important than its appearance.  It also highlights the biomechanical considerations necessary for practical advancements in veterinary sports medicine that can help trainers and owners with their sport horses.   

Dr. Audrey DeClue, Dr. Brandy Ashman, and Dr. Ellen Hillyer discuss the top reasons sport horse owners jump between vets. This includes a lack of agreed answers, poor pain recognition, and failure to link behavior with pain/rideability. They cite Sue Dyson's pain ethogram and note axial lameness is complex, non-limb, and often pelvic dysfunction. Education gaps persist as well, including only one hour of axial lameness in vet school and overlooking saddle fit issues. They emphasize collaboration (vet–owner–trainer–farrier), realistic expectations, and 2026 as a pivotal year for change.

Dr. Audrey DeClue discusses the impact of stray voltage on livestock and its parallels with sciatica in sport horses. She highlights a 2023 study on stray voltage in cattle farms, noting its effects on animal behavior and productivity. Dr. DeClue emphasizes the lack of research on sciatica in horses compared to humans and other species, where it affects 40% of the population. She describes clinical signs of sciatica in horses, such as hind limb lameness and reluctance to move, and advocates for better recognition and management by veterinarians. 

Dr. Audrey DeClue and Dr. Daniella Vansteenkiste discuss recognizing and managing nerve pain and neuropathy in sport horses. Dr. Vansteenkiste emphasizes the importance of understanding subtle clinical signs like behavioral changes, sweat patterns, and postural alterations. She explains the complexities of nerve pain, including the concept of "wind-up" and the slow healing rate of nerves, which can take weeks to months. They highlight the need for multimodal treatment approaches such as pain management strategies and stress the importance of early detection and long-term management rather than quick fixes. The conversation underscores the necessity of veterinarians and horse owners being...

Dr. Audrey DeClue discusses the importance of recognizing pain in horses, emphasizing that many issues misdiagnosed as training problems are actually pain-related. She highlights the need for veterinarians to understand biomechanics and pattern recognition to accurately diagnose and treat pain. Dr. DeClue explains how she identifies and addresses pain and stresses the role of equipment in causing lameness. She advocates for veterinarians to prioritize rideability and trainability over soundness and lameness, aiming to improve horses' quality of life and performance.

In part two of this series, Dr. Audrey DeClue and world-renowned Veterinarian Dr. Sue Dyson discuss the importance of pain ethograms when identifying discomfort in horses. Dr. Dyson shares her extensive experience, highlighting the challenges in veterinary practice, including the reliance on technology over clinical skills and the need for better training. They discuss the impact of rider weight, tack fit, and training methods on horse comfort, underscoring the need for veterinarians to prioritize horse welfare and the importance of continuous learning and collaboration.

Dr. Audrey DeClue discusses the importance of recognizing and addressing pain in sport horses. She emphasizes her unique perspective, influenced by her life experiences and late entry into veterinary school. She challenges the veterinary profession to not ignore the signs and impact of pain, citing historical practices and current shortcomings. She also highlights the need for better education, awareness, and collaboration among veterinarians, body workers, and trainers.   Part two of this series will feature world renowned Veterinarian Dr. Sue Dyson. Dr. DeClue and Dr. Dyson further discuss the importance of Dr. Dyson's development of the pain ethogram for owners, trainers a...

Dr. Audrey DeClue hosts Dr. Daniella Vansteenkiste, a neurologist, to discuss equine neurology. Dr. Vansteenkiste, who practices in Philadelphia, shares her journey from wanting to be an equine surgeon to specializing in neurology. They discuss the importance of recognizing subtle neurological signs in horses, such as girthiness and muscle atrophy, and the challenges of diagnosing and treating neurological conditions. Dr. Vansteenkiste also announces the launch of her consulting practice, VSK Veterinary Neurology, to help other veterinarians with neurological cases.

Instagram: @vskvetneuro

Watch the video here

Dr. Audrey DeClue interviews Dr. Brandy Ashman, a general practitioner from Virginia, who discusses her journey from burnout to renewed passion in veterinary medicine after discovering Dr. DeClue's methods. Dr. Ashman highlights her success with treating lameness and behavioral issues in horses, emphasizing the importance of biomechanics and practical application. They also discuss the challenges veterinarians face, the need for better mentorship, and the establishment of a retirement facility for horses, which Ashman operates, providing comprehensive care and rehabilitation.

Watch the full video here

Dr. Audrey DeClue discusses the importance of education and research in solving problems with sport horses, rather than relying on quick fixes or thinking outside the box. She emphasizes the need for a thorough understanding of horse anatomy and biomechanics and shares her approach, which involves using an extensive education and toolbox of knowledge to address root causes. She also highlights the importance of collaboration and troubleshooting and mentions upcoming workshops and seminars for veterinarians and physiotherapists to enhance their understanding and skills.

Dr. Audrey DeClue and Dr. Kate Workman discuss the need to change mindsets within the institution of equine sports medicine. They also highlight the success of a recent seminar on treating girthiness emphasizing practical, hands-on training. At the core, they stress the need to understand the whole horse - not just limb lameness - to provide the best outcomes. This also requires asking different questions to achieve better diagnoses and treatments. 

The conversation underscores the need for a paradigm shift in veterinary education and practice to improve horse welfare and performance.

Watch the video on Y...

Dr. Audrey DeClue and Dr. Kate Workman discuss common lameness issues in sport horses, emphasizing the importance of recognizing body lameness beyond limb issues. They highlight that pain is the most common cause of lameness, with inciting factors including trauma, fatigue, and inflammation, noting that many conditions often go unrecognized.

The conversation underscores the importance of a comprehensive approach to equine lameness, including the role of biomechanics and the need for more veterinary education and research.

Watch the video of this podcast here. 

Dr. Audrey DeClue, DVM and Dr. Kate Workman, DVM discuss the complexities of body lameness versus limb lameness in equine sports medicine. Dr. DeClue emphasizes the importance of understanding body lameness - a term she coined to describe issues not limited to limbs.

Dr. Workman shares her experience as a performance veterinarian, highlighting the basics of sports medicine and the challenges of diagnosing and treating body lameness. They discuss the interconnectedness of the body, the limitations of current veterinary practices, and the need for proper rehabilitation protocols.

This episode underscores the importance of a whole-horse...

Dr. Audrey DeClue, DVM and Dr. Kate Workman, DVM discuss the complexities of lameness in horses and the importance of simplifying veterinary medicine. Dr. DeClue shares her recent work with the US Army Caisson horses at Arlington National Cemetery, the deplorable conditions and mismanagement of these horses including wasteful spending of taxpayer money. They emphasize the need for veterinarians to understand biomechanics and anatomy to solve complex issues like shivers and stringhalt. Dr. DeClue plans to conduct seminars to teach these principles, starting with girthiness and equipment lameness, followed by iliopsoas injuries. They stress the importance of practical, results-based...

In part 2 of this series, Dr. DeClue continues her deep dive into kissing spine, including some eye-opening data regarding its prevalence across the world.

Some highlights in this episode include:

Countless hours of research have culminated in today's episode on kissing spine in sport horses. Dr. Audrey DeClue pulls knowledge from decades, centuries, and millennia of data on kissing spine to learn more about this affliction that has impacted dogs, cats, humans, otters, horses, and even dinosaurs. 

If your horse seems stiff, uneven, and doesn't track straight, you're probably also having issues with lead changes. It's another long-thought mystery issue impacting performance and sometimes leading to anxiety in horses during drills. As always, Dr. Audrey DeClue brings a practical, common-sense aproach to examining your horse and getting to the bottom of lead change problems in sport horses.

Following a very popular episode previously (Episode 46), Dr. Audrey DeClue talks again with Dr. Kate Workman (Denali Equine in Southern Pines, NC) about cases cases they have treated. They discuss shivers, treatements, lameness, and more with the goal of helping you understand the expectations of performance horses and sport horses that have been significantly injured or have chronic lameness. After proper treatment and rehab, some horses went back into performance or competition. 

Dr. Audrey DeClue discusses a common complaint among riders and veterenarians - cantering issues. Though, historically, much attention has been paid to the limbs, Dr. DeClue brings it back to to the body of the horse, where many of the lameness issues actually originate. She discusses her experience addressing cantering issues and what to consider if this is a problem in your horse. 

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue focuses specifically on the association of the cerebellum to shivers horses. She shines a light on the existing, published research on shivers and the trouble with conclusions based on a small sample size. She also includes an interview with longtime friend, Celeste, to provide a powerful story of what it is like to live with a degenerative cerebellar lesion. 

Dr. Audrey DeClue continues her series on the treatment and solutions she has discovered while helping horses with shoulder and girdle injuries. 

Dr. DeClue discusses the Cause and the Effect of Shoulder Girdle Injuries in Sport Horse creating Kissing Spine, Back and Pelvic Pain, Chronic Undiagnosed Front Limb Lameness, Suspensory Strains/Injury and Sleep Deprivation and Collapsing Horses.

Despite having little to no peer-reviewed published papers about the issue, Dr. Audrey DeClue takes this episode to discuss what she has personally learned while dealing with shoulder girdle injuries in sport horses.

This episode is a guest appearance by Dr. Audrey DeClue on The Humble Hoof podcast with host Alicia Harlov. 

They discuss the research and developments that Dr. DeClue has discovered in her journey of putting the horse first when tackling Shivers and Stringhalt. 

After some time on the road with show horses, Dr. Kate Workman (Denali Equine in Southern Pines, NC) realized her true desire was to put the wellbeing of horses first. While dealing with a particular case, one of her colleagues recommended she listen to The Horse First Podcast. She then reached out to Dr. Audrey DeClue, who, after hearing about the case, decided they should meet. 

In this episode, you have the opportunity to hear more about that story as well as insights from both Dr. DeClue and Dr. Workman on topics such as shivers, lunging, limbs, s...

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue addresses the top causes of lameness in sport horses. These include injury during competition, injury during training or overtraining, injury during turnout, and lower limb abscess farrier work. But the number one cause of lameness? Equipment.

Listen as Dr. DeClue shows how to find the pain that drives lameness. 

When body lameness in your horse only occurs when they're moving, it is positional lameness. In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue breaks positional lameness into two parts and urges more critical, rational thinking within the veterinary profession in order to put structures together and create a more accurate diagnosis. She'll discuss how positional lameness is a subset of body lameness, but worth examining to create better outcomes for horses in general.

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue focuses on the impact that the axial skeleton has on the performance of your horse. This often overlooked connection can provide significant insight on body lameness. 

Poor performing sport horses with a difficulty in diagnosis often receive SI injections. And while this can offer some relief, there is hope beyond injections for horses with sacroiliac injuries. In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue addresses these injuries with a different perspective than you might commonly find. 

It can be scary to hear the words 'suspensory ligament injury.' But in today's episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue brings some hope to the discussion.

She talks specifically about these injuries often being secondary to something else, which can provide for more options when moving forward.

In today's episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue is focused on the importance of communicating well with others based on the strong communication you've built with your horse. 

She also discusses the prevalence of suicide within the veterinary community and how we can be supportive of each other during times of extreme stress, trauma, and burnout. 

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue aims to help riders, owners, and trainers take notice of things going on with your horse and point them out to your veterinarian.

Taking special note of the subtle things you see in the day-to-day and asking about them can make a big difference in proper diagnosis.

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue provides an 8-step process of elimination to address causes and solutions to contact issues with your horse. This is an important episode if you struggle with bridal or contact issues.

Straightness is one of the most common issues owners and trainers have with their horses. It's also a very common topic in publications, no matter what discipline of the horse. 

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue explains that if you can ride your horse in a straight and balanced manner, your lameness  issues go down exponentially. But that's not all, so listen as she digs into the research on straightness issues to help you and your horse become more aligned. 

Whether it's from a known or unknown injury, tension is the enemy of every lameness. The perfect horse can become lame due to tension and a lame horse come back to life when tension is addressed.

In today's episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue discusses cases where lameness has either improved or declined based on discovering and treating tension - no matter what the cause.