10/23/2026
Heres one of my personal horses who requires corrective shoes in the hind and consistent bodywork due to NPA in hinds. This meaning low heels.
A few basic things with this (though I eventually want to do a longer discussion on this, possibly this winter)
Is it is more common than you think, I have seen so many NPA horses this year alone, and unfortunately it isnt always a simple barefoot solution.
Typically this is seen as low heels paired with a long toe, delaying breakover. This can put stress on both tendons, ligaments, and even create navicular changes. Horses with consistent SI pain or restriction, or needing SI injections ir serious problems like kissing spine also tend to be NPA in the back. You may also see some remodeling in the hock or stifle inflammation.
If your horse seems to have undiagnosed lameness, or lameness that repeatedly gets diagnosed as "SI sore" or "needs SI injection", or maybe not even direct lameness but acting unruly undersaddle, or struggling to make tight turns at a faster pace, like Johnny kept being diagnosed as, check your hind feet angles. He may not have a proper heel to support his body. Also keep in mind bunny hopping at the canter is a common problem seen with SI soreness or if they feel like they're bucking it could be a bunny hop from SI tension.
One possible solution that has made a big difference for Johnny is consistent massages on a 4 week rotation, cavellettis, and corrective shoeing. A common technique is a steel shoe on both hinds with a 2Ā° wedge pad (or however much buildup your horse needs at the heel). Mustard has a really good packing I highly reccomend but it can get pricey so im currently experimenting with other packing - I highly reccomend one as an extra cushion for the sole.
There are all sorts of articles and pages that explain more about NPA so I reccomend checking them out, I wanna do more research before I delve too much into this on a public platform!
