Landing & Breakover
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The
hoof lands heel-first when the horse moves. This helps with the
animal's circulation in its legs and feet.As this figure (from "How Hoof" 2004) shows, a heel-first landing will be much more comfortable for the horse. This landing would be facilitated by having a majority of the weight-bearing part of the hoof behind the widest portion of the hoof, since the animal would be more capable of landing heel-first in that instance. This also helps explain the slight angle between the coffin bone and the sole when looking from the side: in the heel-first landing, the coffin bone is closer to parallel to the ground because of the slight angle, allowing for the shock of impact to be spread over a larger area. |
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The breakover point occurs near the frog
apex. As this figure (from "How Hoof" 2004) shows, a more caudal breakover point (closer to the frog apex) will be more comfortable for the horse: it doesn't overextend the ligament as much as when the hoof lacks a good breakover point. This good breakover point is also helped when most (about 2/3) of the weight-bearing part of the hoof is behind the widest portion of the hoof. This breakover point facilitates the ease of motion since it takes less work for the horse to fulcrum its weight over the hoof. |
