"Balanced" hooves in action and feel good Friday

I posted yesterday a little bit about hoof balance - its a massively complex subject which is hard to do justice to in 2 dimensions but I hope the first instalment was useful and I will post follow-ups soon, as there are lots of other visual clues which can help you assess how well (or not) a hoof is balanced.

On the subject of hoof balance, Zan is a very interesting example.  I have put lots of posts up about him before and you can see an example of how his hooves have changed here and the effect its had on his limbs here.

Zan is a good example of how dynamic hoof balance has to be.  His limb conformation means that if you impose a symmetrical hoof on him, he can't land properly.

Conversely, if you allow him a hoof on which he CAN land properly, its asymmetric and looks odd when he is standing in front of you.  He is much sounder this way, however, so (in his case) you have to take your pick: pretty hooves and lame horse or strange hooves and much sounder horse.

I know which I prefer and - more importantly - which Zan prefers.  The footage here gives you an idea of how much twist there is in his front limbs.



I took this a couple of days ago, just before Zan went home and although its lovely that Sarah has now found a perfect new yard for him, I must say we will all really miss him - he's been here such a long time that he's become part of the family.  Good luck Zan and Sarah, and hope we will hear from you soon!

Finally, for the promised chunk of Friday feel-good-ness, how about this fun update which Lainey posted about Bailey:

"Osteo to see Bailey yesterday, she was very pleased with him and said it was the best she had seen him move ever. Sounder than a sound thing.lol. Was tight behind his ears, that's why we had no connection last week. So all sorted and very pleased that he strutted his stuff so well. Bless him. Long may it continue.x"