Observation is Not Diagnosis

There is a particular kind of social media post that always makes me stop and think.

Usually, it starts with a short video of a horse moving or a photo of a horse’s topline. Someone points out something about the horse’s way of going: a hind leg that looks different, a head position that seems unusual, a less than optimal topline, a moment of asymmetry, and then the comments begin.

“Look at that hind leg.”

“That horse is definitely compensating.”

“You can tell there’s an SI problem.”

In some cases, the person making the observation is a veterinarian or another experienced professional. Sometimes it is a less experienced bodyworker.

But this is where I think as professionals, we need to slow down.

Not because we shouldn’t look critically at how horses move. We absolutely should! Learning to observe movement and recognize subtle differences is an important skill for anyone working with horses. But there is a significant difference between noticing something and having the context to know what it means.

Observation Is Only a Piece

A video or picture can be incredibly useful. It can show us patterns, it can make us curious, and it can help us identify something that deserves a closer look. But it is still only one piece of information.

We’re looking at one snapshot in time, from one camera angle, during a very specific task. We don’t know what that horse looks like standing or we haven’t watched it walk and trot in hand. We haven’t seen it from multiple angles. We don’t know its history. We haven’t palpated it. We haven’t actually assessed it.

Yet it doesn’t take long before “Look at how that hind leg moves,” becomes “That horse has an SI problem.”

Those are two very different statements. The first is an observation and the second is a diagnosis and as professionals, we need to understand the difference.

The Problem With Certainty

The part that concerns me most is the certainty with which people sometimes interpret what they're seeing. There is a level of confidence that can creep into online discussions that simply isn't supported by the amount of information available.

Think about an elite athlete competing at the highest levels of the sport, that horse has an entire team surrounding it: veterinarians, farriers, trainers, riders, bodyworkers, rehabilitation professionals, and others who know that individual horse.

These people have history and they have hands-on experience. They have watched the horse move repeatedly, under different circumstances, they know what is normal for that horse.

Could something still be missed? Of course!

No professional is infallible. But we should have enough humility to recognize that we may not be seeing the whole picture. And when it comes to high-level performance horses, if that horse is able to do what the rider is asking of them at such a high level, we most likely are not seeing the full picture.

Now, is it entirely possible to notice something meaningful in a video? Yes!

But it is also entirely possible that what we're seeing is normal for that horse, a product of its conformation, an adaptation to its training, a response to the footing, an artifact of the camera angle, or simply a moment in time.

As professionals we have to recognize (and admit) that we don't know until we gather more information and unless we have, we cannot be certain of anything.

Asymmetry Does Not Automatically Equal Pathology

This is another concept I think is important for anyone working with horses to understand: Asymmetry does not automatically mean something is wrong.

Bodies are not perfectly symmetrical. Horses aren't perfectly symmetrical. And no athlete of any kind is perfectly symmetrical.

Look at human athletes: Usain Bolt, for example, has been studied extensively for differences in his movement and stride mechanics. He has also been reported to have scoliosis and a leg-length difference.

None of that prevented him from becoming one of the greatest sprinters in history.

If we watched a few seconds of Bolt running without knowing who he was, there would be plenty of things we could analyze. We could point out differences between the right and left sides. We could identify movement patterns that don't look perfectly symmetrical. We could speculate about what might be causing them.

But if our response to every asymmetry was, “That's a problem that needs to be fixed,” we could very easily end up interfering with the very adaptations that allow him as an athlete to perform at such a high level.

Horses aren't machines either.

Their conformation matters, the training they receive matters, previous injuries impact them, and how their rider adapts to their own asymmetries and rides matter. Not to mention the impact of footing, speed, fatigue, and the exercise being performed.

Most importantly, the individual horse matters. And somehow that seems to get lost in many of these online assessments.

Bodies Adapt

One of the things we need to appreciate as professionals is that bodies are constantly adapting and an adaptation isn't automatically a pathology.

Sometimes a horse has developed a movement strategy that allows it to successfully perform a particular task. In some cases an asymmetry is significant but sometimes it is not.

Sometimes a movement difference is the result of pain or compensation, or the result of conformation. Sometimes its how they were trained and sometimes it is as simple as how that individual horse moves.

Our job isn't to decide which explanation we like best based on a short video or still picture. Our job is to gather information so we can be better educated professionals and ultimately, horse people.

So What Should We Do When We See Something?

This is where reasoning and patterns of thought become incredibly important.

When I see something interesting in a video, our first thought shouldn't be:

“There's the problem.”

It should be:

“I'd like to see more.”

We should first be include to wonder what the horse looks like standing, at the walk, at the trot, under saddle, in a transition, from the front, from behind, on both sides, with out a rider... you see where I am going?

We would want to know what their history is, what is normal for the horse, what that horse's body feels like and only then can we start to put the pieces together.

A video or picture can absolutely give us valuable clues and those clues can tell us where to look next but it is important to remember that a clue isn't a diagnosis. There is no certainty in a clue, and we cannot have certainty unless we actually know the horse.

Staying Within Our Scope

This distinction becomes particularly important for bodyworkers. As equine bodyworkers, our role is not to diagnose pathology. Frankly, we cannot be diagnosing these horses at all.

Our role is to observe, assess within our scope, recognize patterns, document what we find, and communicate appropriately with the horse's care team. When something falls outside our scope (or when our findings warrant further investigation) we must refer to the appropriate veterinary professional.

That doesn't make our role less important. Quite the opposite!

It means we understand where our expertise begins and where another professional's expertise is needed.

Good bodywork isn't about pretending to know everything nor is it offering certainty. It's about knowing what you're seeing, understanding what you don't know, and knowing what questions to ask next.

Ask Better Questions

The longer I do this work, the less interested I am in proving how much I know by pointing out everything that might be “wrong” with a horse.

I'd rather ask better questions.

“I see this.”

“I wonder why.”

“What other information would I need?”

“Is this normal for this horse?”

“What else could explain what I'm seeing?”

“Does this warrant further evaluation?”

These questions don't just make us better bodyworkers. They also make us better professionals. 

The ability to say, “I don't know yet, but I'm going to keep asking questions until have enough information to make a recommendation” is an important part of building a reputation that lasts. Eventually, you are going to be wrong. Every professional is. You will make an observation that doesn't turn out to mean what you initially thought it meant. You will encounter a horse that challenges what you thought you understood. You will learn something new that changes the way you approach a case you handled five years ago.

Being wrong isn't what damages your reputation. Refusing to learn from being wrong does.

A teachable mind allows you to change your thinking as you gain more information and experience. It keeps you curious instead of certain and encourages you to look at the whole horse rather than trying to fit every horse into an explanation you already know. That mindset makes you better at your craft, but it also builds trust with the people who put their horses in your care.

This is why we need to move away from the thought process of, “I see this in a picture or video, therefore this horse has this.” That level of certainty is rarely supported by the information we actually have. A photograph gives us a moment. A short video gives us a small window into movement. Even a hands-on finding gives us only one piece of a much larger picture.

Asking questions doesn't make you less knowledgeable. They demonstrate that you understand the difference between an observation, a hypothesis, and a conclusion. And in my experience, they make you a more trusted professional

The goal isn't to be the person who always has an immediate answer. The goal is to become the person who knows how to think through what they are seeing, recognizes the limits of their knowledge and scope, and is willing to keep learning.

Ask questions first. Stay teachable. Let your observations lead to better questions rather than premature conclusions.

That is how you become better and how you build a professional reputation that supports the longevity of your business.

And, sometimes, a little more humility (and a willingness to bite our tongue and learn)  when we're evaluating someone else's horse from behind a screen wouldn't hurt either.