03/01/2024
Your horse can't escape ground reaction forces -
When moving across the ground, your horse's hooves impart force into the ground to propel themselves along.
Not only that, but the floor also imparts force onto the horse's body.
This is Newtonian Law - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The way your horse interacts with the ground and as such, the force generated back at the horse, will influence your horse's muscular development hugely.
If your horse's toes are long, you are increasing the duration that their limb retractor muscles are under load - and this is going to have huge consequences for their posture.
Your horse will have tension around their shoulders, their back will bias towards extension and you're going to irritate their suspensories and flexor tendons.
And you can prescribe a million and one exercises to remedy this -
But if you don't remedy the hoof balance you are making life a lot harder for your horse - as well as possibly creating more tendon and ligament irritation!
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3 months between photos for this lovely horse:
Notice how his back has lifted?
How his shoulder angle is not as steep as it was?
How angulation at the base of his wither has neutralised?
Notice how his pelvis looks rounder?
The primary change in this horse's management? His hoof balance was significantly altered.
❤️