Conformation of the hind leg

[olivia]

Ever since I've had Tilly she's had a problem with her hind feet and excess flare on the inside. Although with good trimming it's been kept well in check I've been trying to get to the bottom of the issue.

My new trimmer has tracked the problem down to how she lands her feet. She lands on the outside edge, then sort of slaps the rest of the hoof down - as the growth of the hoof wall is sort of governed by the amount of stimulation it receives this flapping down causes the inside wall to grow faster than the outside causing the flare.

I mentioned this to someone and she said:

"Having what the gypsies call "set" to his hinds (slight cow hocks, but not! santa_cool The whole leg turns in right from the hip to the floor, it's common in breeds bred for heavy draught work and is supposed to improve the traction of the hind leg when pulling serious weights apparently"

Which makes a lot of sense - but I'm trying to find out some more information. I've spent some time on google, which seems to confirm this, but not on sites that I would trust 100%.

SO - has anyone else heard this, I know Dales aren't precisely "draft" horses, but with their history in pulling various objects I thought maybe it would be something you'd come across???

Cheers

Olivia

[nars]

Olivia, it is quite common in ponies and horses bred on the mountains. You see it in Merens sometimes. Louistic didn't have it, but Narcisse did and I had to have good shoeing to keep his balance in check.

[harleydales]

Harley is the same, he wears out the outside of his hinds much quicker than the insides.

He is shod because of his work, and I have extra weld on the outsides of his hind shoes to compensate and that works well.

When he's barefoot he is trimmed to leave the outsides slightly longer than the insides to balance it all out.

[harveydales]

I've not noticed Harvey's feet wearing particularly unevenly so can't comment on that but I do wonder whether the "traction theory" might have something in it. I seem to remember my farrier telling me something similar about Shire Horses and how the old breeders want him to trim and shoe them in such a way to keep them uneven and cow hocked, which of course he was very much against. Surely it would cause problems higher up over time?

I know Dales Ponies are supposed to be wide in front and narrow behind ie not 4-square and have often wondered why this is?