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  Discussion on Where is a horse's natural breakover point
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Posted on Monday, Apr 17, 2000 - 4:56 pm:

Dr.O and others:

Is there a scientifically proven way to determine where a horse's natural breakover point is? In other words, is there any way to tell whether the toes on a horse's hind feet have been left too long, and need to be trimmed to facilitate hind leg movement and collection?

Thanks!

Janice

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 18, 2000 - 6:57 am:

Hello Janice,
I think your question contains a misconception: The natural breakover point of wild horse on firm ground is not determined "solely" by the length of the toe but also by a natural rocker formed on the solar surfaces of the wall. These rockers are caused by wear.

Standard trimming and shoeing practices do not take into account a natural breakover point and no matter how much you shorten a toe it will not come back to the natural brakover point. Proper anterio-posterior balance of the foot is determined by the alignment of the hoof with the pastern and proper hoof length are determined by the use of the horse and the judgement of the farrier. To facilitate movement, in general, the hoof length is as short as practical. The shorter the toe the closeer to the natural breakover point you come.

To determine the optimal (natural?) breakover take a lateral radiograph of the foot: you want breakover to begin just in front of the tip of the coffin bone. Be sure to put a radio-opaque marker at the tip of the frog and on the front of the hoof wall, so you have landmarks to work from. There are some calculation back flips you have to perform to aaccount for magnification, but your vet should be aware of these.

Most folks rockering the toe to achieve a more natural foot just estimate this location based on their understanding of hoof anatomy. I have never seen two agree on how this is done however.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2001 - 11:24 pm:

I will add that the sole develops a natural raised area, a "callous" that always corresponds to the solar edge of the coffin bone. A farrier who is experienced in "reading" the natural sole plane can use this callous as a reference ,along with the frog and with locating the widest part of the foot(which also corresponds to the center of the coffin bone) to place the breakover pretty accurately. Radiographs are helpful in validating the farrier findings and/or finding the breakover point in a foot that has bad distortion. Patty
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