hi, what is it mean when a horse is camped under?
Hi, “camped under” is used to describe leg conformation, and has slightly different meaning depending on whether it is referring to the front legs or the back legs.
It is most commonly used to describe the back legs, which ideally should have a straight line going from the butt to the back of the fetlock. But when a horse is camped under, the fetlock will fall under this line (and if they are camped out, the opposite extreme, it will fall behind it). If a horse is camped under it is usually either sickle-hocked or post-hocked. A sickle-hocked horse will have too much leg angle. It will absorb extra shock and place extra strain on the legs, and can cause uneven hoof wear, arthritis, and tendon injuries. A post-hocked horse will have not enough angle to their legs, which will have a straight appearance. Post-hocks absorb too little shock and can also cause problems like arthritis and make them more prone to stone bruises. The movement of post-hocked horses will often look very jabby and feel uncomfortable. Below is a basic diagram that illustrates correct hind legs and sickle & post hocked legs.
^ Here is a horse that is very-sickle hocked to make it apparent.
^ A horse with more mild, typical sickle hocks.
^ A horse with very severe post hocks (again just posting this to make the straight quality of post hocks apparent, but most are not this extreme).
^ Less extreme but still potentially problematic post hocks. In this case the horse has at least has some angle to the pasterns - its much worse when the pasterns are also very straight.
As far as front legs go, camped under is often used to describe a horse’s stance and posture. They will stand with their legs too far underneath themselves. This is not necessarily due to the bone structure itself but problems like toes that are too long or conformational imbalances elsewhere, or even pain from navicular. I’ve noticed a correlation between horses that stand camped under and horses that are also downhill. A camped under horse will be heavy on the forehand, prone to tripping, and have choppy strides and difficulty extending fully.
^ The arabian I posted yesterday standing extremely camped under in front.
^ A thoroughbred that does not have bad posture overall displaying a more mild version.
