With six bones articulating in close range and multiple tendons and ligaments controlling extension and flexion, the hock, or the horse equivalent of the human ankle, has many moving and shock-absorbing parts. Add to those the animal’s weight and the fact the joint is almost always in flexion, and you’ve got a recipe for a perplexing number of injuries and, because each hock lameness case is as unique as the horse it beleaguers, it isn’t always easy to define the cause of the lameness, one veterinarian says.

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