07/15/2025
Good morning, I hope everyone is having a great summer!
Today’s post and radiographs are a perfect example of why it is so important to radiograph hind feet in horses, especially ones that are experiencing lameness.
This horse has extremely sore hocks probably because of misaligned phalanxes, poor plantar angle, and poor biomechanics. Thanks to Dr. Kacie O'Connell for doing what’s best for the horse and running down the cause of the lameness rather than just treating the symptoms. We cannot express how important it is that you have good alignment through the phalanxes in both front and hind limbs. In our opinion if your veterinarian is not radiographing your horses hind feet when your horse is experiencing hind end lameness, you are getting inadequate care. We raised the PA by 8 degrees and this horse should live a much happier, more fulfilling life. Notice we have adequate sole depth at the tip of P3, we did not over trim the hoof to accomplish the much improved plantar angle. Thanks again to Dr.Redden, podiatrist from Kentucky for sharing these techniques with us to address this issue.
Sound horses are happy horses, have a great day!
