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Put simply, the assessment of foot balance is generally
carried out initially by visual inspection in the resting,
weight bearing position on a firm level surface from the
side, from in front and from behind. The foot can also be
viewed from above when it is picked up and, with the sole
perpendicular to the ground, the side to side balance or
medio-lateral (M-L) balance can be assessed. The use of
an instrument called a T-square can also help gauge any
imbalance.
A side view of the foot is aiming to assess the alignment
of the hoof wall at the toe, relative to the hoof wall at the
heel and to the angle of the pastern bones up to the
fetlock joint. This is termed the hoof pastern axis (HPA).
The normal acceptable range of angle is roughly 45-50°
for forelimbs and 50-55° for hindlimbs, with some breeds
such as the TB being slightly less, while a Cob for
example might be expected to have a more upright angle.
Ideally, a straight line should be able to be drawn from the
toe, along the front of the pastern to the fetlock.
A horse with an upright or broken forward HPA would
have a shallower pastern angle compared with the front
of the hoof wall and would tend to occur in animals with
boxy or clubbed feet. In contrast, a horse with a broken
Foot balance
explained
11 Foot care
A broken forward hoof pastern axis,
with an
upright hoof wall.
A broken back hoof pastern axis,
with an
upright pastern compared to the hoof wall.
Side to side foot imbalance
viewed from
above, with asymmetry of the hoof wall.
Equine
foot care
Whilst advances in science have resulted in the
occasional reports of equine prosthetic lower
limbs, which would undoubtedly have saved the
patient's life, without a foot there is still generally
no horse. One particularly problematic aspect
of the horse's foot is its shape, a feature of its
conformation termed the foot balance.