THE LAMENESS SCALE

The American Association of Equine Practitioners has developed a grading scale (0-5) so that all horsemen and veterinarians can use the same criteria for describing a lameness.

A sound horse is given the lowest score, 0. Grade 1 refers to “lameness that is difficult to observe and is not consistently apparent, regardless of circumstances.” Grade 2 lameness is “difficult to observe at a walk or when trotting in a straight line, but consistently apparent under certain circumstances.” Lameness that is “consistently observable at a trot under all circumstances” is given a Grade 3, and lameness that is “obvious at the walk” is given a Grade 4. Grade 5 is reserved for lameness that “produces minimal weight bearing in motion and/or at rest, or a complete inability to move.”