The Humans 'Hoof' Balance

How often do you check-in on YOUR own ‘hoof balance’?

The relationship between a persons posture and movement has a direct influence on our way with horses, especially when it comes to working from the saddle, but our own balance and body awareness is just as important when on the ground.

Just as the old saying goes, “a horse is only as good as their feet”, so can this be said for us; we need to be paying a little more attention to the influence our own footwear has on our movement, and by consequence, our ride-ability.

The bare human foot is key in providing sensory feedback from the ground and should have a rolling motion that distributes even pressure; whilst the movement of the foot does have a natural slight inwards roll, the foot can experience instability such as supination or over-pronation; the rolling outwards or inwards of the foot.

When the foot rolls inwards and collapses the arch, it is known as over-pronation; this is what you can see the beginning of on the inside of my boot.

Can you see the distension on the inside and difference in symmetry?

The variation here is more slight than on my previous pair, however I was still becoming aware of the effects as a result.

Changes in our foot balance can happen for a number of reasons, from medical and systemic changes that cause instability in joints or weakness in ligament, to muscular weakness and choice of footwear.

Due to the interplay of the soft-tissue connections throughout the body, a slight imbalance in the foot can traction up and cause issues in the ankle, knee, hip and beyond, and vice versa!

Whilst non of us are symmetrical and we all have compensation to some degree in our bodies, there are aspects that we do have some control over to help change and improve our bodies functionality, like our choice of footwear.

A high percentage of footwear available today may look snazzy, but they often lack the support that our feet may need, such as high heels, arch support or soft soles.

And just like the trimming of a horses foot, we all need something that supports our individual needs and be proactive in how we can help ourselves maintain better function, as a whole.

Looking for shoe support that offers a broad low heel, ankle and arch support and adequate fixation are good places to start, as are minimalist or ‘barefoot’ shoes; these offer designs that offer a more natural gait, improve mid-foot and fore-foot strike and offer enhanced spacial awareness.

The slight over-pronation of my right foot is caused by the footwear; having large, broad feet I struggle to find footwear to fit that suits daily needs of being comfortable on the yard but a sole for riding, without too much swapping and changing.

My body brings my attention to this, and when it does I am proactive by, not only changing my footwear, but focus on releasing facial restriction and incorporating foot-strengthening exercise each morning.

Just like hoof balance in the horse affecting gait, or gait affecting hoof balance, so is the same for each and every one of us.

Next time you slip on your favourite pair of boots, take a moment to check out the wear on your soles, the alignment of your limbs and anything else you may notice.

Just a little something to think about..