An animal's correct placement of their limbs and feet requires proprioception (awareness of limb placement and acceleration) and results in a normal posture or stance. The anatomic components necessary for proprioception include the brain, spinal cord, nerves, receptors in the limb, and the musculoskeletal system. If any of these are damaged in any way, inappropriate, abnormally appearing placement of limbs may result.

The loss of proprioception can cause horses to appear as if they are standing funny, cross-legged, off-balance, or awkwardly. Relative to the correct position or placement of a limb, a horse may hold their limbs out to the side (lateral), behind normal (caudal), in front of normal (cranial a/k/a "pointing a limb"), or to the inside (medial) of normal.

Conditions causing loss of proprioception include traumatic nerve or spinal cord injury, Wobbler Syndrome, EPM, NAD, Equine Herpes Virus and other neurologic diseases. Abnormal limb or foot placement can also be due to weakness, literally an unwillingness or inability to position the limb correctly despite normal reflexes.

Importantly (and not related to proprioception), horses in pain often select a limb position that lessens the pain. "Pointing" is common in horses with heel pain or pain in the rear of a limb. Horses with pain in the limb may hold the limb laterally or medially depending on where it is most comfortable.

Rarely, horses position their limbs strangely as a behavioral habit. This is most common in horses that spend a great deal of time stalled and are bored. Horses often graze habitually with one or the other forelimb forward or back.