The bones that make up the hock should generally be thick and heavy. The left and right hocks should look symmetrical.
Over millions of years of evolution, the ankle and part of the foot of the early horse raised off the ground, leaving the horse walking on the tip of its third toe. When looking at a horse from the side, the point of the hock is the backward-pointed part halfway down the rear limb. This article discusses basic hock anatomy and function, describes desirable hock conformation, and discusses common lameness problems associated with this area.Ī horse’s hock is the evolutionary equivalent to the human ankle. Horses of all breeds, types, and disciplines can suffer from hock-related lameness problems, especially those that work heavily off of their hind limbs.
The “hock” is a horseman’s term for the tarsus, an anatomic region of the horse’s hind limb.