Vertical wall cracks are most commonly located at which areas of the claw?

• A. Toe
• B. Heel
• C. Dorsal wall and abaxial-axial junction
• D. Plantar surface

Answer: (C)

Vertical wall cracks arise where the hoof wall experiences the most stress and has a structural vulnerability. The dorsal wall bears the greatest cyclic tensile load during locomotion, so any microtrauma there is prone to propagate upward as a vertical crack along the wall. At the abaxial-axial junction, the corner where the outer and inner walls meet, the curvature and weight distribution create a concentrated stress area, making it a common starting point for cracks that run vertically along the wall. For these reasons, the dorsal wall and this junction are the typical sites for vertical wall cracks, whereas cracks that originate on the plantar surface or at the toe or heel are less characteristic of this pattern.