Causes of sheared heels?

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Sheared heels arise from how forces are distributed across the hoof when the limb isn’t aligned or the hoof isn’t balanced. When a limb has angular deformities, the leg doesn’t track straight, so weight pushes unevenly into the hoof. That uneven loading concentrates pressure on one heel and reduces it on the other, causing the heels to slide past each other and shear. Hoof imbalance—whether the toe–heel ratio is off, or the heels themselves sit at different heights—exacerbates this, again creating sliding forces that tear or distort the heel area and the surrounding tissues. Over time, this abnormal loading and shear leads to the characteristic misalignment and damage behind the heels.

The other options describe conditions that can appear in or around the hoof but don’t directly cause the shearing mechanism. An abscess changes weight bearing due to pain but isn’t the root reason for heels sliding relative to one another. A cracked heel is a separate lesion of the heel horn and may develop after or alongside shearing, but it isn’t the primary cause. Weather changes can influence hoof moisture and hardness, yet they don’t directly trigger the abnormal loading pattern that produces sheared heels.