Diagram 1
How is alignment assessed? When alignment is assessed in an adult horse, one must observe from the front, from the side and from behind. We must also assess deviations in their different gaits, mainly walking and trotting. The imaginary lines appear in Diagram 1.
Figure 1
In foals it is different. It is appropriate to consider the fact( anatomically) that limbs / body proportions are very different. The foal’ s rib cage is narrower and this means that it’ s support base must increase in order to keep its balance, elbows rotating inward and the limb outward( Figure 1). Something similar occurs with the rear limbs, and this is NOT anything“ abnormal” to start with.
This singular way of standing up varies with age: it is more marked in newly-borns, and as time goes by it changes progressively until it reaches an alignment that is similar to that of the adult, at approximately one year old. Throughout this time, the concept of what the“ correct alignment” should be varies as it grows, i. e., it is a dynamic concept. One must be aware that alignment is correct or not depending on the age of the foal. Example: the correct alignment at 2 months is necessarily a defective alignment when it is 15 days old, and vice-versa. As in the case of adults, alignment is assessed from the front; the side and behind, but differently. One must observe the“ general” aspect of a foal’ s alignment, and look at it as a whole. When observing the“ particular aspect of each limb”, the position adopted to assess each limb from the front is defined by the knee( carpus) and hocks( tarsus) planes( Diagrams 2 and 3). The same occurs when assessing a foal from behind.
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