Low
Back and Hock Issues
The Hock of your horse is the anatomical equivalent to your
heel and Achilles tendon. The muscle just above the hock would be equal to your
calf muscle. Many times I see owners
getting the hocks injected for swelling and inflammation. The injection is
great for reducing the pain and swelling but what about the cause. That’s right
the cause….mmmmmm….
Many owners never find out why the hocks continue to get
irritated. Sometimes your Vet may tell you it is a conformation problem combined
with the work you are asking of your horse. This may be true in some cases but
what can be done to minimize the stress and resultant inflammation? This
question usually revolves around getting the hocks injected periodically. You
have to think about it this way.. the hock inflammation is a symptom and
injecting the symptom does not fix the cause, ie spraying water on the smoke
detector instead of the fire somewhere else in the house. So what can be done?
Many times there may be a subluxation complex {joints
irritating nerves} within the sacroiliac [pelvic joint] inhibiting collection
and adding hock stress. Sometimes there
can be a muscle issue with trigger points within the calf muscle equivalent
causing tension in the Achilles tendon. This Achilles tendon tension may result
in abnormal hock movement and inflammation. The stifle may even have a hand in
the altered movement. To add to all of this there may even be a lower cervical
[neck] subluxation causing erroneous biomechanics in the spine and transfer the
abnormal weight shift of your horse to the hocks. Finally there may be a hoof
issue causing the problem as well.
What can you do about all this. Well first of all beyond
hock injections having an Equine Chiropractor evaluate your horse for
subluxation and biomechanics along with your farrier is imperative. The
biomechanics[how your horse moves] of the entire horse is often never
addressed. If there is not an
inborn abnormality within the hocks [rare] or a disease process then the cause
must be biomechanical and your chiropractor and farrier are experts in this
field.
