Re: Now Cannons was Belesemo

["hn.heather" <hn.heather@wanadoo.fr>]

>     I wish people would quit referring to cannon measurements

Here in France (endurance) people are obsessed with finding arabians with
"lots of bone".
To my mind the limb formation and the cleanness of the tendons and ligaments
are more important than the the width of the cannon bone.
I have three weanling foals, two home-bred and one colt that I won as 1st
prize on an endurance ride.  Both of the fillies have "good" bone but the
colt (Spanish/Egyptian) lacks bone and has rather long cannons.  HOWEVER, I
would choose the colt over one of the fillies if I saw them in a field
because the filly has one slightly off-set cannon and is a bit over at the
knee.  The colt however, for all his long cannons, has dead straight
forelimbs and tendons so clean and hard you can see every detail.
I have the filly's sire and he has the very same slight deviation, you have
to look carefully to see it.  He has completed several 130kms race rides so
the deviation hasn't been a problem, however he has had a few soft tissue
problems in the past.
All this is perhaps meaningless and I hope both of these little people turn
out to be champions but I would still choose limb formation and dry tendons
over x inches of bone.
Heather
SW France