What is a Cow-Hocked Horse? Credits: Wikimedia It is a type of poor conformation that occurs due to inward setting hocks in horses. This makes the legs splayed and can cause excess pressure on the side joints, which in turn can cause severe inflammation and also permanent lameness.
How to tell if a horse is cow hocked?
A. Stand your horse up square on a flat surface, then stand directly behind him and look at his hind leg angles. If he angles outward from the fetlocks only, he’s not cow-hocked but instead is toeing out. But if his hocks sit close together and angle inward, and his fetlocks reach farther out than his hocks, he’s cow-hocked.
What are cow hocks?
Cow-hocked (adj.) or cow hocks (n.) describes a defect in the conformation of four-legged animals, primarily of livestock and horses, but also of dogs and cats.
What does it mean when a cat has cow hocked legs?
Cats are commonly cow-hocked, with the hind legs angling inward at the ankles and the feet splaying outward more than forward. Mild cow-hocking is negligible, and kittens often look a little cow-hocked, but if the defect is severe, the resulting poor alignment can damage the joints and spine.
What does it mean when an animal is cow-hocked?
Description. An animal is cow-hocked when its hock is set inward, resulting in a splayed look in the back legs. This can result in the uneven wearing of hooves, which can end up in permanent lameness, and can prove to be a very serious condition. Permanent lameness usually results in the animal going for meat,...
How do you fix a cow-hocked horse?
Cow-hocked horses cannot be fully treated. The prognosis suggested by any vet will majorly focus upon strengthening the limbs in the hind legs to avoid serious injuries.
How does a horse become cow-hocked?
Horses with mild external rotation of the distal extremity are said to be toed out and usually also have external rotation of hocks, causing the points of the hocks to be closer than normal. This fault is called cow-hocked conformation and is a rotational change of the hindlimb (Figure 4-31).
Is cow-hocked hereditary in horses?
For instance, a foal may have perfectly straight legs when born but develop calf-knees or cow hocks later. An acquired character is not inherited.
Can cow hocks be corrected?
Cow hocks can't be completely corrected. Most treatments will focus on strengthening the hindquarters of the dog to help mask the appearance of the cow hocks and to compensate for the weakness associated with them. The exercises used for cow-hocked dogs typically focus on hind leg strength.
Why do horses stand camped under?
This stance can be due to conformational defects or sometimes are an indication of hoof pain, such as navicular. The horse that is "camped under" will stand with its legs too far underneath it, causing increased strain to be placed on the ligaments and tendons of the leg.
Where is the cow Hock located?
hind legThis means the first joint from the ground on the hind leg is the ankle (hock), not the knee, which is why it bends in the opposite direction to our knee. The knee is further up the leg, almost hidden by the leg muscles, while the hip is very high up, just below the base of the tail.
What is coon footed horse?
Being coon footed (old term) is when the fetlock joint almost touches the ground as the horse walks, because the hind pasterns are excessively long. This also puts excess strain on the hocks and stifles, especially if a horse is asked for hard turns and stops, as in the arena.
What is a cow hook?
a. The tarsal joint of the hind leg of certain quadrupeds, such as horses and dogs, corresponding to the human ankle but bending in the opposite direction. b. A joint in the leg of a domestic fowl similar to the hock of a quadruped.
What is knock kneed in horses?
Angular Limb Deformities The most frequent presentation we see are knock-knees (called valgus deformity), originating from problems of the distal radius growth plate, or toe- in (varus) deformities of the fetlock, originating from the distal cannon growth plate. Figure 1 shows a young foal with valgus limb deformity.
How can I improve my horse's hocks?
6 Simple Exercises to Strengthen Your Horse's Hind QuartersStretch the leg forward as if you are trying to touch the opposite front leg with the back hoof.Stretch the leg backward like you would if you were cleaning out his hoof. ... Stretch into high flexion. ... “Baited Carrot” stretches.
What is sickle hocked in horses?
A sickle-hocked leg structure is one in which the back leg joints of an animal, usually a horse or other equine mammal, are set with too much angle, resulting in the hock also being excessively angled. This can result in uneven hoof wear, which is incredibly painful for the affected horse.
What is the injury in a cow's hock?
In another cow the right hock and adjacent limb are very swollen with an extensive cellulitis ( 7.135 ). The injury resulted from a puncture wound which introduced infection into the subcutaneous tissues. Although such animals do become very lame, this cow recovered after antibiotic therapy.
How to rotate a cow hock?
The usual procedure to address this situation on the base-narrow horse is to slightly lower the inside hoof wall and build some lateral support into the shoe. The opposite is done for the base-wide horse.
How does sciatic nerve damage occur in horses?
Sciatic nerve damage is rare. It occurs in foals as a result of injections into the thigh or rump or may occur transiently after injection of local anesthetic solution caudal to the coxofemoral joint. Horses with sciatic nerve damage support weight but appear to be crouched behind, because innervation to the gastrocnemius, flexor, and extensor muscles causes the hock to drop and fetlock to knuckle forward. Careful observation of stifle action and the ability to support weight are useful for attempting to differentiate this deficit from femoral nerve paresis.
What happens if a horse has sickle hocks?
If it persists in a mature horse, particularly a racehorse with other conformational abnormalities, such as sickle hocks, abnormal forces or load occur in the tarsal region, predisposing the horse to distal hock joint pain, curb, and proximal metatarsal lameness.
Why do horses rest their hind legs?
Normally a horse rests one hindlimb or another, but immediate resting of a hindlimb after work, or a combination of resting of the hindlimb and trembling in the flank or stifle region, may indicate lameness . Resting of the hindlimb, particularly with trembling of the quadriceps muscles, often prompts handlers to erroneously assume the horse has stifle region pain. Horses with hindlimb pain from other locations will often assume this posture.
How long does it take for a horse to develop varus conformation?
This posture most often appears in foals and may develop 7 to 10 days after onset of lameness.
What is toed out in horses?
A majority of STB and WBL horses toe out behind, which should be considered normal. Horses with mild external rotation of the distal extremity are said to be toed out and usually also have external rotation of hocks, causing the points of the hocks to be closer than normal. This fault is called cow-hocked conformation and is a rotational change of the hindlimb ( Figure 4-31 ). Cow-hocked conformation occurs in combination with base-wide or base-narrow deformities or independently. Cow-hocked and base-narrow conformation is most common. Base-wide and base-narrow conformation may occur without cow-hocked conformation. These conformational faults seldom lead to lameness but have a substantial effect on gait in some horses. Horses that are base narrow travel closely behind, particularly at a walk. Some travel closely at a trot, pace, or gallop, whereas others seem to widen out when going faster, thus avoiding interference. Those that travel closely at speed often interfere, causing injury to the medial aspect of the contralateral hindlimb.
How to tell if an animal is cow hocked?
An animal is cow-hocked when its hock is set inward, resulting in a splayed look in the back legs. This can result in the uneven wearing of hooves, which can end up in permanent lameness, and can prove to be a very serious condition. Permanent lameness usually results in the animal going for meat, as the cow will be in far too much pain to move, the milk in a cow will not be up to standard, and the animal could not be used in breeding, as this trait would pass on. However, most animals will not have too serious a condition, and will walk with a splayed-leg look. Another way of spotting cow-hock is when the hooves point outward as a result of the incorrect lineup of the joints in the leg.
What is cow hock?
Cow-hocked ( adj.) or cow hocks ( n.) describes a defect in the conformation of four-legged animals, primarily of livestock and horses, but also of dogs and cats.
Why are my cow hocks so close together?
In cow-hocked horses, the hind hocks are too close together and point toward each other, with the feet too widely apart. It is a fairly common defect, and if the metatarsal bones are vertical, may not always cause lameness. A combination of cow- and sickle-hocks poses a greater risk.
What happens if a cow is lame?
Permanent lameness usually results in the animal going for meat, as the cow will be in far too much pain to move, the milk in a cow will not be up to standard, and the animal could not be used in breeding, as this trait would pass on.
What are the problems with a hocked horse?
Other issues include the development of curbs (inflammation in the ligament of the accessory metatarsal bone), arthritis, bog spavins (swelling in the soft tissues), and thoroughpin (swelling of the tendon sheath). Sick led-hocked horses also tend to interfere at the trot. This flaw – a result of the medial section of bones ...
What is a sickle hock?
Sickle-hocked. This abnormal hock angle places the foot too far forward and tends to stress the structures at the back of the hock and cannon bone. The long plantar ligament running down the back of the leg from the hock can be strained or injured during heavy work. Other issues include the development of curbs ...
