Inertial measurement unit gait analysis is increasingly available to equine practitioners, enabling objective detection of lameness that was previously missed by visual assessment alone.
Lameness causes pain, and undetected lameness means untreated pain. IMU gait analysis technology has transformed the detection threshold for equine lameness, catching cases that would previously have been dismissed as normal variation or missed entirely. This translates directly into welfare benefit: earlier detection, earlier treatment, and more precise targeting of interventions. For horses asked to perform athletic work, IMU assessment before and during training can identify welfare-relevant gait changes before they progress to overt lameness.