ReidSporthorses

This!!! We are soooo grateful for the expertise of our veterinarian team at Equine Innovative Medicine
Preventative Medicine and performance exams multiple times a year keep our athletes comfortable and healthy year round

𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨: “my horse stopped working, but I know he doesn’t need vet work because I just got his 6 month maintenance done a couple of months ago…”

And while that is great… that ultimately means nothing, when you’re starting to see signs of pain now.

What do we mean by that?

Just because you had hocks injected a couple of months ago, does not mean they couldn’t have taken a misstep in a run or performance and injured something else…

Just like we can roll an ankle or hurt ourselves at any given time, our horses risk injury every single day. Even in the practice pen.

Sometimes when you quiet down one major issue, you may start to notice others (that were originally masked because the other areas lameness was so severe)

Performance horses… the elite performance horses are a constant work in progress!

Establishing care with an experienced equine veterinarian who specializes in sports medicine can be a major competitive advantage for your horse’s long-term success in the arena—not just a medical formality.

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨:

• A sports-medicine vet understands the biomechanics of performance, so they don’t just treat injuries, they evaluate how your horse moves, loads joints, and compensates under the specific demands of your discipline.

• They focus on early detection, catching subtle soreness, asymmetries, or performance changes before they turn into career-limiting injuries. (Why having them jogged and flexed regularly is key! This costs you $150 and can save you thousands and give you PEACE OF MIND)

• Treatment plans are individualized, based on your horse’s job, age, workload, and competition schedule—not one-size-fits-all protocols.

• They help you optimize soundness, not just “get by,” using a mix of diagnostics, targeted therapies, conditioning guidance, and recovery strategies.

• Strategic maintenance keeps small issues from becoming big layoffs, which means more consistency, fewer missed runs, and longer careers.

• They collaborate with your farrier, trainer, and rehab professionals to create a team approach, ensuring nothing is working against the horse.

• Decisions are made with longevity in mind, helping you balance peak performance now with preserving joints, soft tissue, and mental soundness for the future.

• When setbacks do occur, a sports-medicine specialist can provide faster, more precise answers and evidence-based rehab plans that safely return the horse to competition.

In short, a sports-medicine veterinarian isn’t just there when something breaks—they’re a partner in your horse’s development, durability, and confidence. In high-level competition, that proactive care can be the difference between a horse that survives the season and one that thrives year after year. 💜🙌🏻

📲Dr. Sharp 208-565-0344

A bit technical, but good information on hoof balance 

“Toe too long” how to define the correct length?

“Toe too long” is one of the most common comments we hear in practice, but it is also one of the least consistently defined. Some approaches treat toe length as a number, others as a look, others as a relationship to internal landmarks. The research and the major hoof balance theories suggest a better way to think about it:

Appropriate toe length is not a fixed measurement. It is a functional outcome of where breakover happens and the ground reaction forces act, relative to the limb’s centres of rotation. How the base of support is distributed around those points, and how the horse loads the foot through stance.

Why toe length matters biomechanically

Toe length is not just “toe length”. It is a lever arm and factor of ground reaction force distribution.

During late stance, the hoof rotates toward breakover and the location of breakover affects the mechanical demands on the distal limb. Research on breakover manipulation shows that moving breakover (often via shoe placement or toe modification) can change stride kinematics and timing variables at walk and trot, which is why toe management is so commonly used clinically and in performance shoeing (Duberstein et al., 2013). 

More recent work also looks at trimming, angulation, and shoeing variables in relation to breakover duration and timing in vivo, reinforcing the idea that toe related interventions influence breakover mechanics in measurable ways (Hagen et al., 2021). 

We also know that toe length affects static load on the hoof by dorsal migration of the action point of the ground reaction forces. Static assessment of proportions are reflective of vectors and loads experienced at mid stance.

Key point: Toe length is inseparable from breakover location and from the mechanical “moment” the ground reaction force creates around the distal joints.

The classic “base proportion” models are trying to achieve Symmetry and proportional balance from a visual perspective. But what is balance when considering actual physical vectors and how they affect ground reaction forces?

From the combined literature the definition I can formulate for balance is this…

“The hoofs interaction with the ground should provide the horse with mechanical and functional efficiency while considering the skeletal structures of the limb”

That definition sounds abstract, and is more of a what hoof balance should do, then what it is!
What it is, is exactly what the new hoof balance paradigm tries to quantify.

How the 2023 “new hoof balance paradigm” reframes toe length and base proportions

The paper “The quantification and definition of a new hoof balance paradigm” (Yxklinten and Sharp, 2023) proposes a specific midstance “Point Of Balance” (POB) located anterior to the distal interphalangeal joint centre of rotation, described as approximately one quarter of coronet length back from the dorsal coronet in an unperturbed hoof capsule. It then links balance to alignment between:
• POB
• the pressure point of the solar surface (their PPSH concept)
• the centre of pressure of the ground reaction force (COP) at midstance, when horizontal force is zero (Yxklinten and Sharp, 2023). 

Why this matters for toe length:
• Toe length becomes about whether the toe and breakover position allow the GRF line of action at midstance to sit in a relationship with the transference of weight of the horse. keeping the hoof in force and moment equilibrium.
• Base proportions stop being a purely geometric target and become a mechanical target. The “base split” should serve alignment of the load path, not the other way around.

Practical application for farriers and therapists

Stop saying “short toe” and start saying “appropriate breakover and position of the CoP at midstance”

Importantly give the outcome a purpose.

“Balance is where the foot is in equilibrium at midstance, so toe length and base proportions should support that load path while factoring in the shoeing cycle length” (Yxklinten and Sharp, 2023). 

Join me on Monday 15th 11am GMT where I will explain the new hoof balance paradigm and define correct toe length in terms of the hoofs interaction with the ground and protecting tendons and ligaments.

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/toelength

Have a read of this article in the meantime

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/the-quantification-and-definition-of-a-new-hoof-balance-paradigm/