flat foot horses - lameness

Question
hello, are flat footed horses more prone to lameness? if yes, can you please list out what all problems do flat footed horses face most commonly?

Answer
Hello Rohit,

Working horses that have flat soles, MAY be prone to lameness related to the sole. Not all flat soled horses suffer a lameness because of this conformation. The other difficulty with making a statement that these horses are prone to lameness is that we don't know at what point a sole is flat and no longer concave. This makes it difficult to determine if the flatness of a sole is really the reason for the lameness.

I can tell you that I see bruising of the sole in horses with extreme flatness of the sole. This can result in an abscess if untreated.

Hope this helps.