I don’t know about you, but it has been pounded into my head for years that the hoof and pastern angle should line up. I’m not saying that’s wrong — not sure that it is right — but when should they line up? Standing still with both feet on the ground? When you pick up the other leg and the fetlock drops slightly to line them up?

I can’t say I have a definitive answer to that dilemma; however, I lean toward the latter.

Alignment During Weight-Bearing

There are two times when the hoof-pastern alignment occurs during the weight-bearing phase: once while accepting load and again during application (about halfway between mid-stance and lift-off). As farriers, we can’t utilize those dynamic instant positions in our thought processes as we are lucky to see them as the horse trots by us. Most of us observe the two front legs with the horse standing on both legs at the same time. Is that the correct time to evaluate the hoof-pastern axis? That evaluation is of little use to me. It becomes difficult to make dynamic interpolation of the hoof-fetlock relationship with both legs standing. The horse can compensate for any mechanical variances while adjusting that distal leg posture to maintain a flat horizontal body plane.