Thanks for posting this.
It would have been great if they'd have discussed the related structural issues that might explain what one sees in the photo. For example ...
In Figure 8, they describe a post-legged steer. Why is it this way? Is it because the croup is too flat, or maybe because the femur is too short? Or, maybe there is some other explanation.
Figure 10 ... is that the normal stance of the animal in question? Or, maybe the animal was just feeling lazy and had pulled its feet up underneath it. Is it sickle-hocked, or just simply a point-in-time representation of the animal in question? I always thought that you can't judge whether or not an animal is sickle hocked unless the top of their hock is in the proper position, and the animal in this picture isn't positioned properly to determine whether or not it's sickle-hocked. Said another way, if this particular animal moved its front feet forward 6-9", I think you'd get a better idea of whether or not this animal was truly sickle-hocked. As it is now, I'm more likely to think that it was just in a lazy stance and not necessarily sickle-hocked.
Figure 12 ... growing animals will toe-in or toe-out at different points of their life as the chest and shoulders grow and change in proportion to one another, and overall weight and weight distribution can affect the way the growing animal carries itself (and therefore whether or not the toes point in or out). Toes in/out can only really be accurately judged in a mature animal. I have a hard time holding a little east/west against a youngster. Judging against a mature animal is a whole other story.
figure 13 ... cow-hocked is often related to the tilt of the pelvis and the exact nature of the hip socket and how the femur head and the socket interact ... without looking into the nature of the movement of the animal, determining the cause of cow-hocked structure is difficult.
Figure 18 ... to me, he looks like he'd have a poor meat:bone ratio.
Anyhow, I wish they would have shed additional light as to the WHY we're seeing what we're seeing.
Thanks again for posting.
