AutumnEffect wrote:
forthefutureofthebreed wrote:
They'll lie down outside in the sun on the hard ground anyway no matter what you bed their stall with.

Are you saying that hock sore are inevitable on horses that live outside all the time?
No, I didn't say that at all.

It depends on where you live and the ground conditions. Horses who live in a soft cushy grass pasture probably won't get hock sores. Horses kept in a soft dirt paddock might not get them. Horses in dry lots that never get cleaned out will lie down in the soft, dried out manure fines and those horses probably won't get them. Out west here, where the ground can be as hard as cement, yes, most horses will have hock sores at one time or another. They come and go. Occasionally, they'll find a rock sticking out of the ground and that's all it takes to break the skin. Even in a stall with a dirt floor, they'll sometimes find the hardpan through a foot of shavings or straw.