All about landings and why they are important for soundness

I'm re-posting some of my previous blog posts today because I had an interesting question come in on email and it reminded me that its sometimes good to go back to basics.

The question was about how horses land, and whether it really mattered whether they landed heel first. Its a question that often comes up and I have posted about it a lot (you can search through old blog posts using the box on the right).

So rather than re-invent the wheel, here are some posts I prepared earlier...

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/10/heel-first-flat-and-toe-first-landings.html - a basic explanation of the anatomy behind lame and sound landings.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/toe-first-landing-what-happens-next.html - why a toe first landing is an important warning that should not be ignored.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2011/10/comparing-heel-first-and-toe-first.html - anatomy in more detail.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2016/04/normal-healthy-landing.html  - examples of really healthy landings.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-horse-experts-and-heel-first-landing.html and http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2014/09/heel-first-landing.html
- responses to a strange article, which insists that heel first landings are not healthy. The 2013 post includes slow motion footage as well.

Hope you enjoy them, and apologies to those who've seen them all before!