Horse feet, part 2: Shape & Structure

I bet you read through that last post and wondered "What the heck does this have to do with model horses?". Well... I'll tell you... I have seen more incorrectly shod or trimmed model horses than I ever thought possible. It was one of those things I chalked up to people adding shoes after the fact, and that the people who added the shoes didn't know anything about feet. However, I have also seen artists improperly shoe model horses as well, usually with metal shoes on sale pieces (I have also seen resins with incorrectly sculpted shoes, but this is less common). This is really a shame, and a big problem, considering how important the hooves are to any horse, halter or performance.

One other thing I have noticed on far MORE model horses (nearly all of them!) is that most artists-- even the highest caliber ones out there-- sculpt all 4 feet exactly the same. Same shape, width, length-- absolutely the same, all the way around. Go ahead-- go and pick up any of your resins on your shelf, and compare all four feet. There are only a handful of resins I have come across (I can count on one hand, most likely) that have the feet sculpted correctly-- that is, the front feet of a horse are quite different in size and shape than the hind feet. In my opinion, sculpting them all the same is as big of a problem as improperly shoeing a horse, since the shape of the hoof is directly related to how that foot functions. This is what I was starting to get at in Part 1; we must always remember that form follows function, whether in real life or in model horse sculpture.

If you don't have a horse in your backyard to go reference, here is a diagram from the amazing black book "Atlas of Animal Anatomy for the Artist". You can clearly see the difference in shape and width of a front foot vs. a hind foot. But why is this so?

A horse does not carry weight on all 4 feet evenly. In fact, they carry 60% or so of that weight in the front, and only 40% or so in the back. The front feet are therefore wider and rounder to better support the larger portion of the horse's weight, made up of the chest, neck, and head (all of which is very heavy!). The back feet, by comparison, are designed for propulsion. Its similar to a car... the front end if for steering, the back end is for power. When a horse launches off into a canter, the longer toes dig into the earth and give better traction than a wider, rounder hoof. With another car analogy... its why a thinner tire does better in the snow and mud than a wider tire: it digs in and cuts through the earth giving superior power and thrust.

How the shape of the foot effects performance

Why is hoof shape such a big deal? In my time spent learning about feet and how they function, I also learned that the shape of the hoof itself has a huge impact on how that horse will move. For example, a horse with proportionately very small feet or a club footed horse will move with a very short, choppy gait. This is definitely not ideal many disciplines, including pleasure, dressage, and in hunters, who compete based on the fluidity of their gaits and movement. Similarly, a horse whose rear feet are short and wide will have poor forward propulsion in any event that would require quick starts and stops. It also may effect the horse's movement in the back end, since those feet would also not have the traction that a narrow/longer foot would have... potentially leading to the horse slipping back there, leading to a fall.

Of course, some horses have 4 feet which are all very similar, with minor differences in shape. However, you can tell immediately by sight the difference between a front and rear hoof, even if you don't see anything else of the horse:
Front foot
Hind hoof


Its very easy in this age of hyper-detailed sculpting to loose little things like this. More often than not the simple shape of the feet are one of those things that are glazed over-- which is a shame since, after all, they are what holds up the rest of the horse! Not to mention that it could greatly impact how the horse you are trying to show in performance classes would move in real life.

It is always good to remember: Form follows function! :-)