Lameness, due to its detrimental effect on cow welfare, health and production, in dairy cows has received quite a lot of attention in the last few decades, not only in terms of prevention and treatment but also in terms of detection, as early treatment might decrease the number of severely lame cows in the herds as well as decrease the direct and indirect costs associated with lameness cases. Assessment of lameness prevalence and severity requires visual evaluation of the locomotion of a cow. Scoring cows for lameness based on changes in locomotion or behavior is essential for farmers to find and treat their lame animals. Human observation of locomotion, by looking at different traits in one go, is used in practice to assess locomotion. Welfare schemes including locomotion assessments are increasingly being adopted, and more farmers and their veterinarians might implement a locomotion-scoring routine together. Generally, lame cows are detected by the herdsman, hoof trimmer or veterinarian based on abnormal locomotion, abnormal behavior or the presence of hoof lesions during routine trimming. In the scientific literature, several guidelines are proposed to detect lame cows based on visual interpretation of the locomotion of individual cows (i.e., locomotion scoring systems, LSS). Monitoring herd lameness prevalence has utility for dairy producers and veterinarians in their efforts to reduce lameness, for animal welfare assessment programs, and for researchers. Locomotion scoring is a method used to quantify lameness and calculate prevalence.

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