Causes and Factors Associated with the Episode of External Injuries in Cart-Horses of Mekelle Town, Tigray, North Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 384 carthorses to determine major causes and factors associated with the occurrence of external injuries from October 19, 2011 to May 31, 2012. The study revealed that the overall prevalence of external injuries was 25% and there was no statistically significant variation (?2 =0.677; P= 0.4106; 95% CI; OR, 0.75 (0.36-1.45)) in the occurrence of external injuries among age groups. The overall occurrences of external injuries in different body parts were found to be 25.84% in two-wheel and 74.16% in four-wheel-carthorses. Old carthorses were at about the same risk to develop external injuries as young ones. Intensity of injuries was found to be highly associated with the type of carts. There were significantly higher proportions of moderately (70.3%, ?2 =33.4%, P < 0.001) and severely (22.2%, ?2 =33.4%, P < 0.0001) injured four-wheel-carthorses than the moderately (33.3%) and severely (4.7%) injured two-wheel-carthorses. Among the various causes of external injuries, overloading and overworking (26.04%) and improper harness and saddle (18.75%) were the major causes of the external injuries on the different body parts of the animals. Wither was the most affected body part in two-wheel and four-wheel-carthorses with the occurrence rate of 25.92% and 21.29% respectively. A comprehensive equine health and welfare promotion program is important to alleviate the problem.