Contrasting Structural Morphologies of “Good” and “Bad” Footed Horses

The equine foot has evolved from the third digit and, through years of evolution, has become elongated and strengthened. While this structure has become “strengthened” to support the weight of the horse, one might find major arguments from some people about what it really means to have a “strong foot.” Usually, most discussions revolve around the term “good conformation,” which includes several variables such as thick walled hooves that will resist drying and have “normal” growth qualities. The sole should be thick enough to resist most external traumas as well as be shed normally. The bars should also be well developed along with the frog. Other descriptions include the alignment of the foot with the axis of the distal limb with a mediolateral and a craniocaudal balance, and are usually mentioned because any imbalance can affect foot flight and stride length, etc. Although these descriptions are vague and can vary from horse to horse, most people acquainted with horses can appreciate and understand this concept of a “strong foot” or “good foot.” However, these descriptions include only the external parts of the foot, specifically the visible structures, and little or no mention is ever made of the possibility that the internal structures of the foot may contribute to a concept of a “good foot.” Additionally, internal foot structures that may contribute to a condition of a horse with a “bad foot” are not mentioned. The latter term is the opposite of the “good-footed” horse and merely refers to a horse that continues to have foot problems, or more specifically, because it relates to the present discussion, a horse that has a foot with chronic lameness problems. From our work over the past few years of dissecting, examining, and studying the feet of most breeds as well as the feet of horses from different parts of the United States, we have discovered that the structural composition of the equine foot differs from foot to foot, although the anatomy of the equine foot is virtually identical. This statement means that although the internal anatomy of the foot is identical in terms of foot structures, the composition varies considerably from foot to foot. It is this variation in structure that seems, at the very least, to contribute to those horses living their entire lives without any major foot problems, whereas other horses seem to have been born with chronic foot problems. Thus, we have simplistically defined a “goodfooted” horse as one that lives well into their 20s or 30s without any chronic foot problems such as navicular syndrome, whereas the “bad-footed” horse