RHPE

MY Wish!

After all the MANY injuries and illnesses, I have experienced with horses, my one wish would be that they could talk! However, i need to get real and this is never going to happen! 🫣 .....But what if we had a way of checking, monitoring, and assessing the horse on a regular basis to get an indicator of his level of comfort and being reassured that he is comfortable? At least this would be a huge step in the right direction of us being able to listen to them better and hearing them whisper to us and not shouting at us their level of discomfort? 💡Turns out there is something we can apply, The RHPE…  read on! …..

What is the RHPE? 

The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram, something I have studied myself via a course through https://www.equitopiacenter.com/,   was developed by Dr Sue Dyson and her colleagues and is a list of 24 behaviours, the majority of which are ten times more likely to be seen in a horse with musculoskeletal pain. Studies have shown that a horse who is displaying 8 or more of these behaviours in the RHPE list is likely to be experiencing some Musculoskeletal pain. Let’s face it, it’s usually really easy for everyone to see a horse that obviously limping on 3 legs, and I think none of us like that heart and gut sinking moment when we see it and we are all praying for it to be an abscess!  I once had a very good vet tell me that even a lot of vets do sometimes struggle with recognising some lameness's and is skill that must be mastered over time. 

So what  about the really subtle lameness, or the ones that involve more than one leg, or if its really mild. These are often so difficult to detect,  I have experienced horses that trot up sound but the rider is insisting that their horse “just doesn’t feel right”,  i used application of the RHPE , and the horse scored over 10 so was referred back to the vet for a lameness work up and a treatable condition was thankfully found early, treated, and the horse is now back out competing. 

Horses are by nature natural masters at compensating and hiding subtle pain and injury, this goes back years of horses living naturally in the wild, because you can imagine which horse in a herd is going to get preyed on first when being chased by a hungry predator out in the wild if he is looking pained! So, they naturally hide pain and discomfort and  manage to adapt their movements very well. Sadly, then it is sometimes therefore not until the pain becomes too much for them to handle is when it gets noticed by us.

So what can we do? 

Horses can only communicate their pain to us through their behaviour and it is so important that we learn how to listen to them, interpret their behaviour and it is not just put down to “oh he/she is just: always spooky, lazy, always gone like that, doesn’t like the left corner of the arena, naughty, he’s just always difficult…” We need to start regularly asking WHY? 

The application of the RHPE is invaluable to any horse owner, rider, trainer, therapist, groom, vet, farrier, physio, saddler, the list just goes, it really is for anyone in the equestrian industry that has equine welfare at its heart, ensuring the welfare of these beautiful stoic beasts who do so much for us. 

On the 10th April through ‘Horses Inside Out’ Gillian Higgins hosted another fantastic ‘webinar Wednesday’ this one was particularly good as it is something very close to my heart, recognising pain in horses Presented by Dr Sue Dyson and Sue Palmer-The horse Physio, “Harmonious Horsemanship”, in my opinion, its title just doesn’t do the weight of its content justice. Dr Sue Dyson and Sue Palmer spoke in depth about the value of the RHPE (Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram) and its application. 

Quoting Dr Sue Dyson 

“I think that there has been a normalisation of equine behaviour. We have accepted that it is normal for horses to open their mouths, or to put their ears flat back or to swish their tails. Rather than thinking, why are horses doing this? Is this perhaps a way that they are trying to communicate to us.”

“Many horses appear non-lame in hand and on the lunge but are uncomfortable when ridden.”

“There have been a variety of studies done in Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and the UK which indicate that approximately 50% of the sports horse and leisure horse population which riders consider are comfortable are actually experiencing musculoskeletal pain.”

Once learnt and practiced, the RHPE is easily appliable and a good indicator of whether the horse is suffering some musculoskeletal pain. It is a vital tool and a good way of monitoring, keeping a regular record of the horse and it is easily identifiable if the horse is only scoring 2-3 and then is creeping up to a 6-7 level, this is something that can be investigated by a Vet and hopefully caught in the early stages. 

Practicing it and videoing if you can, maybe every 6 weeks is a great way of keeping an eye on your horse, his condition and performance, and can be a good indicator giving you peace of mind that everything is ok and he is comfortable 😊. I would also like to add something which I recommend all my clients doing which is, photographing your horse on a regular basis, it is a great way of monitoring his condition, from both sides, front, rear and the horses back from above if you can get something to stand on, safely! And great tools to be passed onto your, vet, therapist, farrier, saddler etc if needed. 

Dr Sue Dyson and sue palmer also discussed how low-grade discomfort can influence performance, rideability, training, rider position, safety, and comfort of the rider. 

The Harmonious Horsemanship webinar can be purchased and re-watched through the ‘Horses Inside Out’ academy -which is totally free to join, https://www.horsesinsideout.com/academyalong with a huge selection of other great educational lectures. This webinar is a great introduction to the RHPE and a MUST watch for everyone that considers horse welfare at the heart of what they do.

As I have previously said Dr Sue Dyson has an online course through www.equitopiacenter.com, this is filled with many fantastic videos to watch, and it is an invaluable tool for everyone in the equestrian industry to be able to confidently apply the RHPE. I have contacted Dr Sue Dyson after the webinar to seek permission and she has very kindly allowed me to share with you a special 40% off discount code (Dyson2024) which was given in the webinar. 

Dr Sue Dyson and Sue Palmer also have a book out ‘Harmonious Horsemanship’ clearly describing the RHPE and how to use it. Which can be purchased through Sue Palmer’s website https://www.thehorsephysio.co.uk/or amazon. 

Mullard, Jessica & Berger, Jeannine & Ellis, Andrea & Dyson, Sue. (2016). Development of an ethogram to describe facial expressions in ridden horses (FEReq). Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research. 18. 10.1016/j.jveb.2016.11.005

Dyson, S., Berger, J., Ellis, A., Mullard, J. (2017) Can the presence of musculoskeletal pain be determined from the facial expressions of ridden horses (FEReq)? J. Vet. Behav.: Clin. Appl. Res. 19,78-89

Dyson, Sue. (2017). Equine performance and equitation science: Clinical issues. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 190. 10.1016/j.applanim.2017.03.001

Dyson, S., Berger, J., Ellis, A., Mullard, J. (2018b) Behavioural observations and comparisons of non-lame horses and lame horses before and after resolution of lameness by diagnostic analgesia. J. Vet. Behav.: Clin. Appl. Res. 26, 64-70

Dyson, Sue & Dijk, J.. (2018). Application of a ridden horse ethogram to video recordings of 21 horses before and after diagnostic analgesia: Reduction in behaviour scores. Equine Veterinary Education. 32. 10.1111/eve.13029

Dyson, Sue. (2021). The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram. Equine Veterinary Education. 10.1111/eve.13468

Dyson, Sue & Thomson, K. & Quiney, Laura & Bondi, Anne & Ellis, Andrea. (2020b). Can veterinarians reliably apply a whole horse ridden ethogram to differentiate nonlame and lame horses based on live horse assessment of behaviour?. Equine Veterinary Education. 32. 112-120. 10.1111/eve.13104

Dyson S, Pollard D. Application of a Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram and Its Relationship with Gait in a Convenience Sample of 60 Riding Horses. Animals (Basel). 2020 Jun 17;10(6):1044. doi: 10.3390/ani10061044. PMID: 32560486; PMCID: PMC7341225

Dyson, Sue. (2021). The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram. Equine Veterinary Education. 10.1111/eve.13468

Dyson, S., Berger, J., Ellis, A., Mullard, J. (2018a) Development of an ethogram for a pain scoring system in ridden horses and its application to determine the presence of musculoskeletal pain. J. Vet. Behav.: Clin. Appl. Res. 23, 47-57

Greve L, Dyson SJ. The interrelationship of lameness, saddle slip and back shape in the general sports horse population. Equine Vet J. 2014 Nov;46(6):687-94. doi: 10.1111/evj.12222. Epub 2014 Feb 27. PMID: 24372949

Greve, Line & Dyson, Sue. (2018). What can we learn from visual and objective assessment of non‐lame and lame horses in straight lines, on the lunge and ridden?. Equine Veterinary Education. 32. 10.1111/eve.13016

Dyson, S., Bondi, A., Routh, J., Pollard, D. (2020c) Gait abnormalities and ridden horse behaviour in a convenience sample of the United Kingdom ridden sports horse and leisure horse population. Equine Vet. Educ. doi: 10.1111/eve.13395

Dyson, S. (2019) Application of a ridden horse pain ethogram to horses competing at a 4-star three-day-event; comparison with cross country performance. Equine Vet. Educ. 32, Suppl. 10, 92-103

Dyson, S., Ellis, A. (2020) Application of a Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram to horses competing at 5-star three-day-events: comparison with performance. Equine Vet. Educ. doi: 10.1111/eve.13415

Dyson, S., Martin, C., Bondi, A., Ellis, A. (2020d) The influence of rider skill on ridden horse behaviour, assessed using the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram, and gait quality. Equine Vet. Educ. 10.1111/eve.13434

Dyson, S., Bondi, A., Routh, J., Pollard, D., Preston, T., McConnell, C., Kydd, J. (2021) An investigation of behaviour during tacking-up and mounting in ridden sports and leisure horses. Equine Vet. Educ. doi: 10.1111/eve.13432

1Dyson, S., Pollard, D. (2021) Application of the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram to elite dressage horses competing in World Cup Grand Prix Competitions. Animals 11, 1187. doi.org/0.3390/ani11051187

Dyson, S., Pollard, D. (2021) Application of the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram to horses competing at the Hickstead-Rotterdam Grand Prix Challenge and the British Dressage Grand Prix National Championship 2020 and comparison with World Cup Grand Prix competitions. Animals 11, 1820 doi.org/10.3390/ani11061820