Obturator Nerve

Nobody talks about this one. Which is why so many horses get treated for hock problems they don’t actually have.

The obturator nerve exits the pelvis through the obturator foramen and supplies the adductor group — the muscles responsible for medial stabilization of the hindlimb during swing and early stance. When it’s compromised, medial stabilization is delayed. The hock arrives slightly outside the ideal load line. It wobbles. And everyone looks at the hock.

The obturator nerve is reporting a lumbar problem through the medial hock because of the loss of control over the inside hind leg muscles. The hock is not always the problem. Sometimes it’s just the signal.