Cow hocked

lenaluso

lenaluso

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Hi, Can anyone offer me some advice, i purchased a beautiful British Warmblood colt who arrived in December. The vet came out to give him his injections and upon examination was concerned about his front leg as he felt he had a problem with his front legs (felt his tendons where loose) and wanted me to get the farrier to look at him ASAP. The farrier was asked to come and see him, who said yes there was a problem with his front legs but he was more concerned about his back legs, his hocks face in the way and when he walks his feet turn out, he is only 9 months old and they are all ready talking about corrective footwork and/or an operation. Has anyone had a similar experience? Thanks :)
 
From my experience horses with cow hocks tend to find travelling behind difficult and compensate by using their forehand more thus the tendons could be lose/strained etc. I'm no expert by the way just from experiences.
 
Given he is only 9 months if there is a problem then corrective shoeing now may well be able to permenantly correct the problem depending on what it is so definately have a discussion with the vet and the farrier about what they want to do and their expected outcomes
 
I had a British Bavarian warm blood mare , got her when she was 9, she was cow hocked - did loads with her right till she 22 then a older lady took her from me for light hacking, she is now 31 years old and still going strong and never had a days lameness in her life :D
 
Cow hocks are less powerful than well conformed hocks .
However horses with stifle issues sometimes move this way to relieve discomfort.
Some youngsters go though an ekkk period when things can appear much worse than they are when the horse furnishes up.
 
My youngster was nice and straight behind when I bought her, then she had a massive growth spurt. I notice sometimes she looks quite cow hocked so mentioned it to the farrier and he didn't want to do anything corrective as she is big boned but narrow at moment so has a lot of filling out to do. So he said she will naturally correct this as she fills out. It's not excessive but has been playing on my mind.

I hope this is the case as she moves lovely.
 
I can just confirm what skipadeedooda said.

I bought my youngster at 7 months and he was perfectly straight.

Now at rising 2 he has a slight dish in walk (perfectly straight in trot) and looks slightly cow hocked.

My farrier confirmed it is becasue of the way he is currently growing he is a bit top heavy at the moment, but once he begins to fill out and put some breadth on his chest everything will even out.

Having said that, he has never had any problems with his tendons. It might be worth just keeping an eye on your baby for the moment. I don't like the idea of "messing" with them when they are still growing.
 
My boy is just turning 4 and often stands cow hocked when at rest in the stable. At walk and trot he is straight.
I have often worried about it but my vet and farrier are not concerned and he changes shape so often. He's currently gone all 'bum high' again just as I thought he was levelling out.
Unless it is really bad I wouldn't worry too much and see how nature takes its course.
 
My new forest pony I got when I was a kid was cow hocked, we competed successfully unaffiliated showjumping and gymkhana games for years and he still managed to bronc me off regularly! He's also now in his 20's and retired in the field, and like a previous post never had a days lameness in his life, I doubt we would have won a showing class though lol
 
Thank you for all the advice and stories about this, they have made me a bit not positive! He is the sweetest foal ever and the last thing I want is for him to have to have an operation! The farrier is out in two weeks to look at him again and then we will go from there, thanks again x
 
There is cow hocked FROM the hock which needs remedy, and then there is cow hocked from the hips which is just growing angles.

My filly goes from straight, to bendy, to straight to bendy every time she grows bum high. This is because, if you think about it, one period in time they are level... Next they are higher at the back than they are at the front so naturally, they will compensate for this by flexing the hips. Otherwise it would be uncomfortable.

Watch from behind at trot, does the trot power through straight or bent? Usually, in motion the bend goes if it is just a growing angle.
 
tallyho! said:
There is cow hocked FROM the hock which needs remedy, and then there is cow hocked from the hips which is just growing angles.

My filly goes from straight, to bendy, to straight to bendy every time she grows bum high. This is because, if you think about it, one period in time they are level... Next they are higher at the back than they are at the front so naturally, they will compensate for this by flexing the hips. Otherwise it would be uncomfortable.

Watch from behind at trot, does the trot power through straight or bent? Usually, in motion the bend goes if it is just a growing angle.
Click to expand...

^This.

Our young arab has been horrendously cow hocked at times but he moves straight. It's just that his legs are massively too long for his body... He's going to be tall when he's finished.
 
tallyho! said:
There is cow hocked FROM the hock which needs remedy, and then there is cow hocked from the hips which is just growing angles.

My filly goes from straight, to bendy, to straight to bendy every time she grows bum high. This is because, if you think about it, one period in time they are level... Next they are higher at the back than they are at the front so naturally, they will compensate for this by flexing the hips. Otherwise it would be uncomfortable.

Watch from behind at trot, does the trot power through straight or bent? Usually, in motion the bend goes if it is just a growing angle.
Click to expand...

This is a good post OP if I where you I would get a friend and video him walking and trotting and they slow it down to watch it try to understand exactly what is going on.
You have a hard choice to make , it's not something that if it needs intervention you can wait to do but intervening in an unsuitable way could be disastrous .
I would study learn and if the vet is not a specialist in this area get acess to one fast .
Good luck
I would not be letting a farrier do anything complicated without imput from good vet with an special interest in this area that's for sure.
 
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