This article focuses on the evaluation of the equine gait pattern as the basis of everyday trimming and shoeing. While the horse is guided in a straight line on level, firm ground, the motion of the limb during the swing and stance phase is observed, along with the sideway motion and flight arc of the limb during the swing phase. The landing of the hoof on the ground is of importance during this routine evaluation

In this context, landing is the first part of the stance phase and determines the period from initial hoof-ground contact until complete hoof stabilization on the ground (Back, Clayton, 2013).¹ In particular, the type of initial contact and the progress of stabilization of the hoof on the ground are of practical relevance. By observing the motion of the hoof from frontal or lateral, the type of the initial hoof-ground contact is assessed. Unfortunately, the naked eye is slow in signal processing and merely assesses motion with a frequency of 60 frames per second (Weller et al. 2006). However, the duration of hoof landing on the ground happens in 10 to 18 milliseconds (ms) on average (own data). Therefore, the use of objective gait analysis systems can be useful to obtain more detailed insights about the characteristics of hoof landing on the ground (Hagen et al. 2021).³¹

Hoof Landing Characteristics

Three parameters need to be taken into consideration, for the evaluation of the landing: the initial hoof-ground contact, the stabilization of the hoof on…