legend promotes lamness

[46zilzal]

Our track vet is a wealth of knowledge. She always takes the time to answer most inquiries in a thorough way.

We were recently discussing the hoof and how it's alteration continues to promote injury to the horse. "There is this fallacious belief that keeping a long toe somehow increases stride length. It has been proven false over and over but stays in the mind set of trainers." (we know that stride is based upon conformation, biomechanics and neuromuscular coordination not hoof shape). "It increases pressure on the frog and distal pad and also promotes greater stress on the long flexors along the back of the leg."

I likened this to the old EARTH shoe malarkey (the negative heel that promoted some baloney thet equated with walking in the sand) that was popular when I was first in out patient clinics and we saw all manner of Achilles tendinitis and the occasional Achilles tendon tear with this ridiculous shoes.

Bottom line: leave the hoof alone. It evolved to work a certain way. Let it.

[DJofSD]

In other disciplines, the idea is promoted of having a balanced hoof. This means having the correct trimming for both laterally and longitudinally. This preserves the natural way the horse travels even at speed. If some trainers believe having a longer length of toe some how increases stride length I wonder if they have any empirical evidence that it does. I suspect they probably have more tendon injuries (but that is just a guess).