11/18/2025
9/10 times I will be asking to get X-rays of the hind angles to help with diagnosis and rehab planning…I’ve learned on my personal horses as well as many many other rehab clients…ANGLES matter, and can be life changing- good or bad!
Let’s talk SI pain… stifle pain… hock pain… hamstring tension… low back pain/tension…and how it ALL can trace back to one sneaky root cause: low hind angles.📐🦶🏼
🔥𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑:🔥
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐗-𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥!
I’ll die on this hill: a LOT of the “mystery” issues people bring their horses to me for aren’t actually mysteries. They’re compensation patterns stacked on top of compensation patterns… all starting in the feet.
When those hind feet have low angles or underrun heels, the entire hind limb chain gets thrown out of balance. And guess who ends up paying for that?
➡️ The SI,
➡️ the stifles,
➡️ the hocks,
➡️ the hamstrings
➡️ the low back
➡️ AND the horse’s posture from the ground up.
I see it constantly in the rehab barn. These horses come in sore behind, tight through the low back, tight hamstrings, dropping their shoulder, dragging toes… people assuming it’s a stifle issue or that their horse just “has a weak topline.” And sure, those things show up. But the root? Nine times out of ten, it’s that the hind feet can’t support the rest of the body the way they’re supposed to. And one of the FIRST things I look for is that “U” shape in the neck.
You know what I’m talking about. That upside-down neckline where the horse bulges the underside of the neck and almost hollows out in front of the wither. That “U” is a huge red flag for me. Why?
Because a horse that’s compensating behind can’t properly engage their core or lift their topline, so they brace with the underside of the neck instead and hollow out their entire body because they’re experiencing pain & tension trying to evade it.
The neck literally tells on the hind feet. Which also creates stifle pain & tension. 🤷♀️
Low angles = overloading.
Overloading = chronic tension and faulty movement.
Faulty movement = SI strain, stifle fatigue, hock irritation.
And when the hind end can’t function correctly?
➡️ The core disengages,
➡️ the topline collapses,
➡️ the “U-neck” appears,
➡️ and the snowball starts rolling FAST. ❄️➡️🏔️
And here’s where my experience continues to come in:
I don’t just look at the symptom. I look at why the body chose that compensation pattern in the first place. I’ve rehabbed enough of these cases to confidently say… fixing the feet is step ONE. Not step five. Not an afterthought. STEP ONE.
That’s why in my facility, I’m so grateful to work with our farrier, Joe. 🙌
Joe balances these horses beautifully and isn’t afraid to make the changes they truly need. When we’re dealing with low angles or underrun heels, we often use:
✔️ Leather wedge pads for lift and cushion
✔️ Frog support to distribute load where it belongs
✔️ A setup that encourages REAL heel growth instead of crushing the capsule
And let me tell you, the changes in the SI? The changes in the stifles? The changes in the topline and that neck? MASSIVE.
When the foot is corrected, the body finally gets permission to stop bracing and start engaging. The “U-neck” starts to disappear. The horse starts lifting through the core again. You can feel the release. You can SEE the movement change.
This is why I preach whole-horse rehab so hard. If you’re only treating the pain and not the cause… you’re just chasing your tail while your horse keeps compensating.
Balance the feet. Support the structures. Retrain the muscles.
Do that… and your “mystery lameness” horse suddenly looks like a comfortable, functional horse again. 💜🦄
