We all know the saying No Foot, No Horse - here is an article about recent scientific research on the importance of correct foot balance to enable your horse to perform at its best. This research investigated the effect of hind limb toe length in both ridden and unridden horses and the effect it had on gluteal muscle pain (the big hindquarter muscles). If the gluteal muscles are painful then obviously the horse will not be able to use them properly and movement and performance will be affected, not to mention causing the horse discomfort. The research found (in a nutshell) that a longer toe significantly adversely affected the gluteal muscles, and that shortening the toe even a few millimetres made the gluteal muscles less sore on follow up testing weeks later. Its well worth a read, and dont be put off by having to register, its a fantastic website full of really interesting articles that are easy to read. All the more reason to make sure your farrier is a REALLY good one (like mine ;-)) thehorse/articles/27304/long-toes-in-horses-a-pain-in-the-butt
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 15:25:25 +0000
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