Diagnostics

Overground (“telemetric”) Endoscopy has revolutionised what we know about the upper respiratory tract of horses and how diseases can affect performance. We use the finest and latest technology on the market to get crystal clear images of your horse’s throat during exercise, allowing us to diagnose subtle pathology that can severely limit performance.

When a horse is heard to make a noise during exercise the initial step would be to use a conventional endoscope (a long flexible camera) to examine the horse’s upper respiratory tract (throat and airway). Some conditions can be diagnosed at rest but others only occur during exercise. Overground endoscopy (OGE) is an advanced technique that allows us to examine the upper respiratory tract when a horse is galloping. The technique is also useful in horses that are not running or working as well as expected.

An endoscope is inserted up the nostril and positioned to focus on the larynx at the back of the throat. The camera is held in place on a specially designed bridle and is connected to a computer system mounted beneath the saddle. This records the video and also sends a live feed back to a wireless handheld monitor so that we can look at the horse’s larynx as it is exercised. The horse is then exercised normally, but at a good pace to exacerbate any issues, and we follow in a vehicle with the monitor.

Once we know what the problem is we can discuss options with connections and a few different surgeons and work out the best way forward to get the horse back to peak performance.

Where the overground is performed is dependent on the horse and the issue. For racehorses we would generally come to your normal gallop and for sports and pleasure horses we would generally come to your yard.