01 September 2008 16:23
I have an Arab filly who has just turned two, and is very cow hocked. I want to know how concerned I should be – my intention is to use her for dressage and light endurance when she is older. I have been told that Arabs tend towards this trait because of their extravagant movement. Is there anything I can or should be doing about it? I only got her at 18 months, very little had been done with her and it took me several months to get her to pick her feet up. She is now great to handle and the yard farrier has practised picking her feet up but as yet hasn’t done anything to them. Someone mentioned that massage and gentle stretching could help.
Answer
By Your Horse
Vet Gil Riley replies:
A cow-hocked conformation, especially a pronounced version, is an important limiting factor regarding further athletic use.
Because the hocks turn out, the cannon bones will be pointing outwards as well, so that the fetlocks are a greater distance apart than the hocks, while the fetlocks tend to turn inwards. If this is the case with your filly, it will mean the concussive forces incurred during work are not distributed normally throughout the limb and can lead
to early onset osteoarthritis and/or ligament strain in either the fetlock joints or the lower hock joints.
I would suggest, firstly, your farrier must ensure footfall is even – this often involves having to trim down the lateral heel and quarters of the hoof and, in the future, fitting a remedial shoe with a wide medial branch and narrow lateral branch to support the hocks.
Secondly, I would encourage light exercise from now to build up muscle strength of the hindquarters.
Thirdly, I would consider the possibility that you are not going to be competing at dressage and that a less dynamic use (such as long hacks out) should be considered – the decreased concussion
would help stave off the onset of the conditions
I mentioned before.