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[RC] Heavy on the forehand - Kristi Schaaf

Since recent posts have been about how endurance
horses carry themselves, I have a question. I believe
it was Kat who said there are horses who have done
thousands of miles while heavy on the forehand. I know
it's an undesirable trait, but I'm curious how common
it is in distance horses. I've got a 5 yoa Arab
gelding that I bought as a very green horse because I
thought I saw the potential (ha - like I even knew
what to look for - I saw those perfect hooves and
straight solid legs and started drooling, and didn't
look any farther). I started him with LSD this summer,
and as soon as we started doing some trotting, I was
disapointed in how choppy his gait was. I also noticed
that he moved 'heavy' even while at liberty in the
pasture. I posted to ridecamp this summer asking for
suggestions, and Linda T-Jones/Bobby Lieberman emailed
me some tips. I quit riding him and started
handwalking him with a Tteam bit and a figure-8 ace
bandage, just trying to get him to have better body
awareness. After awhile, it seemed like he started
moving better while at liberty. Then, a few weeks ago
I had access to a researcher with a force plate, so we
ran some tests. Well, my concerns were confirmed. The
researcher told me that a 'normal' trotting horse puts
90% of his weight on each forefoot when he lands. My
horse puts 110% (while being trotted in hand). That's
like 200 extra pounds on every front foot landing! My
debate is whether I should spend the time (mine)
and/or money (for a trainer - know any in the upper
midwest?) to see if this horse can be taught to carry
himself well enough to stay sound for distance riding.
Have any of you had any luck 'curing' a horse who
didn't even carry himself well at liberty? Or am I
tackling a doomed project? I really love this guy, but
I don't know if I'm being realistic about changing
him. Would he be better off as someone's 'plod down
the trail' pleasure horse? 
Kristi (who will buy future horses with a much longer
list of requirements) iluvdez at yahoo dot com   

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