Excellent article on hind end lameness etc

[walktrot]

Foot Imbalances and Hind-Limb Lameness in Horses

This is excellent. It has a wealth of information about anatomy and a variety of problems. So many people post about mysterious hind end problems, this makes it apparent why they are so hard to identify and treat…

First paragraph:

“Horses that are lame in the hindquarters might swing out their hind legs, have side-slipping saddles, or resist certain movemtents or directions. In more severe cases they avoid placing pressure on the affected limb. The cause might be a stifle injury, a tendon issue, hock problems, or a variety of other sources of pain. But new research suggests some hind-limb lamenesses might be associated with imbalances in the hind hooves.”

This is in the most recent issue of The Horse magazine. A couple of months after I bought my Paint gelding in 2001 my trail riding buddy took me on a tack store tour. I was looking at magazines on a display. She picked up The Horse, handed it to me, and said “read this!!!” I haven’t missed an issue since.

[JB]

@walktrot

have side-slipping saddles

or blankets.

Even a front end lameness can cause enough hind leg movement deviation to cause the blanket to slide

@walktrot

But new research suggests some hind-limb lamenesses might be associated with imbalances in the hind hooves.”

Proving what every good farrier, hoof-savvy vet, and hoof savvy owner have known for years

“no hoof, no horse” is a centuries-old, valid saying

[walktrot]

JB, tthat’s the first paragraph of the article. I didn’t write that paragraph, but the “quote” feature on the message menu picked up my name. I should have made it clearer. What caught my attention when I saw the article in the magazine was how complicated hind end soundness problems can be.

@JB

Proving what every good farrier, hoof-savvy vet, and hoof savvy owner have known for years

I agree with you. Unfortunately there are too many owners who don’t have good local farriers and/or vets available. They regularly post here looking for help with their horse’s problems. The article is a good source of information on anatomy and the complexity of problems that can develop. I hope it will help good owners enhance their knowledge base.
.

[JB]

Oh I know you didn’t write it I was just adding on that it’s not just about saddles. Saddles can slip because of a lot of reasons, usually because they don’t fit properly, but also because the tree is twisted or the flocking is uneven or the shoulders are uneven. And, not all horses wear saddles, so blankets are something else that might start telling a story

[Libby2563]

Good article! Anything that provides exposure for this issue is great. It sounds obvious but sadly isn’t to many people. A couple years ago I was chatting with a respected local soundness vet about hind NPA and he said CSU had done a study showing it wasn’t really associated with lameness or other issues. After he left I went to track down this study…which showed the exact opposite! They couldn’t prove causation but yes there was correlation. It can be really frustrating to worry about these things as an owner and have no buy-in from vets or farriers.

Here’s a link to that CSU study if anyone is interested: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30472759/