Everyone knows what a horse’s leg looks like, and everyone knows what it’s made of. We even know what it feels like: every day we run our hands down the limbs, lift the foot so that we can pick out a hoof, or stretch the foreleg to ensure the girth doesn’t pinch. And yet, in performing these daily routines, we rarely stop to think about what an extraordinarily resilient – and at the same time utterly vulnerable – piece of engineering the horse’s leg actually is. In short, we take the horse’s legs for granted.
In writing this book, Sara Whyche has produced a unique and extremely illuminating guide to this frequently misunderstood (and sometimes misused) part of the horse’s anatomy: what it is, what it does, how it works, why it sometimes doesn’t work, and, most importantly, what constitutes soundness. For whilst most of us know what lameness is, defining soundness is more difficult; and a true understanding of soundness is essential if we are to help our horses cope with the demands that we increasingly place upon them.
Understanding The Horse’s Legs is not merely an anatomical reference book; nor is it simply about what to do when your horse goes lame. Rather it aims to provide a complete, explanatory overview that will enable you to understand not just the mechanics and dynamics of the horse’s legs, but the way they affect the horse as a whole. Whether you keep horses for a living, form only temporary partnerships with them for the purposes of competition, care for them professionally, or simply live with them as owner and rider, this highly readable book offers you a fresh perspective on a subject that affects anyone involved with horses.
Hardback.