Changing how hooves land and why this is important

As many of you know, the horses who come here have a range of diagnoses ("navicular", DDFT collateral/impar ligament damage, coffin bone damage) but most have a lameness which blocks to the foot and many have then had x-rays or MRI which of course gives lots more information about what structures within the foot are affected.

Horses with this type of lameness nearly always have a toe-first or flat-footed landing, when filmed laterally and often also have poor medio-lateral balance as they land (ie they land on one side of the front foot first), when filmed head on.

What is very consistent is that as horses become sounder their landings improve and become more heel first and more evenly loaded.

I always film horses when they arrive and there is a clear pattern which is confirmed again and again - look at the footage I took of Beanie and Red, who arrived at the weekend, as a typical example.

Buddy, who went home last week, shows what happens as feet begin to become stronger and healthier. Contrast this footage of how he landed when he arrived with footage from the day he went home. A better landing goes hand-in-hand with improved soundness - again something I see repeatedly.

This is after only 12 weeks of change - not quite half a hoof capsule - so imagine how good his landing will be once he has grown in a full new hoof capsule. Its also interesting to see that the issue is not just with his front feet but also his hinds. Not all horses are like this but many are and the changes to the landing in hinds is equally dramatic and equally important.

Why is it so crucial to change how horses land? The answer is simple - because it reduces damage to ligaments and tendons and as a result improves soundness. Its of course something I have blogged about many times before - there is more on the anatomy of landings here and more on what happens when a horse continues to land toe-first here and of course you can search the rehab horses to find examples of more footage.

The really useful thing about watching how horses land is that its something that is easily available to any owner, vet, farrier or trimmer. Its not expensive, doesn't require sophisticated equipment and is an effective way of monitoring not only hoof health but biomechanics.

How hooves land - while important - is naturally not the only thing you need to monitor with a horse but one thing I am sure of - you ignore a poor landing at your peril!