When the horse lifts his hind foot off the ground, he must contract his stifle, hamstring, hip, and gluteal muscles to propel himself forward. Any imbalance in the hooves is going to alter these biomechanics and potentially lead to lameness. | Photo: Kevin Thompson/The Horse

Historically, veterinarians and farriers have spent far more time evaluating and adjusting front hoof balance than rear hoof balance. This is because front imbalances typically manifest as obvious foot pain. Rear limb imbalances are typically less obvious but just as critical to monitor, however, because they can cause pain higher up in the limb and body.

At the 2017 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Nov. 17-21 in San Antonio, Texas, Tracy Turner, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, ACVSMR, described hind-limb biomechanics and how to address common rear hoof imbalances. He owns Turner Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, in Stillwater, Minnesota.

“I’ve spent the majority of my career talking about front feet,” he said. “I started looking and realized that rear hoof imbalance has been largely ignored. But rear hoof imbalance might have more effect on the upper body due to its direct attachment to the axial skeleton (the vertebrae, skull, ribs, and sternum)