Horses often are able to show us signs that indicate an area of soreness which may be the cause of a lameness, however sometimes there are no obvious clinical signs. In these cases nerve blocks can be very useful to isolate an area causing lameness. Nerve blocks involve placing a small volume of local anaesthetic over a nerve which numbs the pain that is coming from below this point. After the nerve is desensitised the horse can be re-examined and if the lameness has resolved then the lameness has been localised to this area. This can then allow us to provide further imaging of the area to accurately diagnosis your horses lameness.