SKIN SURFACE-TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS IN HORSES BY ELECTRONIC THERMOMETRY

Measurement of surface skin temperature with an electronic thermometer is very rewarding during a locomotion examination. A subjective obser vation is transformed into an objective number. Measurements in normal horses outline an amazing symmetrical pattern. The head and the trunk are evenly warm, but the temperature drops at the areas with bone und erneath the skin (e.g., tuber coxae). The temperature decreases from t he proximal to the distal parts of the limbs. Differences in skin surf ace temperature are valuable indicators in the detection of tendinitis and the healing pattern of tendinitis. Measurement of surface skin te mperature is imperative in all locomotory disorders. Electronic contac t thermometry is clinically more reliable than some of the other porta ble instruments tested measuring the infrared radiation. The more soph isticated heat camera would be a very useful device for total body inf rared screening in clinical circumstances but in practice the electron ic thermometer is a very good (and inexpensive) choice.