A search for and the development of more objective and reliable methods of lameness evaluation is justified and should be encouraged and supported.

The inertial sensor system was able to identify lameness at a lower level of sole pressure than the consensus of 3 equine veterinarians. The inertial sensor system may be an effective aid to lameness localisation in clinical cases.

Although much has been written about laminitis in the context of its association with inflammatory processes, such as dietary carbohydrate overload and endotoxemia, [1][2][3][4][5] recognition is growing that most cases of laminitis examined by veterinarians in private practice are those associated with pasture grazing, obesity, and insulin resistance (IR). 6,7 The term endocrinopathic laminitis has been adopted to classify the instances of laminitis in which the origin seems to be more strongly associated with an underlying endocrinopathy, such as either IR or the influence of corticosteroids. [8][9][10][11] Results of a recent study suggest that obesity and IR represent the most common metabolic and endocrinopathic predispositions for laminitis in horses. 6,12 IR also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of laminitis that develops when some horses or ponies are allowed to graze pastures at certain times of the year (pasture-associated laminitis [PAL]). [12][13][14][15] Moreover, IR is provoked by and contributes to pathophysiologic processes associated with endotoxemia and systemic inflammation under the more classic circumstances associated with risk for acute laminitis, such as grain overload, retention of fetal membranes, and gastroenteritis. 16,17 However, a recent study using the oligofructose model showed that experimentally induced laminitis was not associated with a loss of insulin sensitivity. 18 The term equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) has been proposed as a label for horses whose clinical examination results (including both physical examination and laboratory testing) suggest heightened risk for developing laminitis as a result of underlying IR. 19 EMS is not a disease per se, but rather is a clustering of clinical abnormalities that, when identified collectively in a given patient, indicates that the likelihood of developing laminitis is greater than in individuals lacking the EMS criteria. Use of the term EMS is especially practical for distinguishing affected horses from those affected with either Cushing's (pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction [PPID]) or hypothyroidism, with which EMS is often confused. 19 The clinical importance of diagnosing EMS centers on the fact that recognized risk factors for laminitis can subsequently be avoided in the affected individual. Preventive measures aimed at reducing the risk for laminitis should be rigorously emphasized in EMS-affected horses and ponies.Recently, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) commissioned a panel of EMS-interested specialists to develop a consensus statement that would help define the syndrome based on current knowledge. 20 During development of the consensus statement, contents of the working draft were presented and discussed at the ACVIM Annual Forum in Montreal, Canada and some of the following comments will be based on those discussions. 20 Ongoing experimental and clinical studies will help better define EMS (which is distinctly different to the human metabolic syndrome 21 ) in the next few years. D...