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RE: [RC] conformation dogs/horses - heidiIf I remember properly from an article about gaits and animals in Scientific American a decade or so ago, while the feet move similarly dogs and horses do many gaits differently. At the dog equivalent of the gallop, they bend their backs to lengthen their stride. Horses can not do that. The reason was that dogs weigh ~100 lbs or less while horses weigh ~600 lbs or more. The extra weight forces horses to have a much less flexible back. Well, it isn't a matter of the weight FORCING the heavier animal to have a less flexible back. It is a matter of anatomy. Elk, deer, etc. are smaller than horses but bigger than dogs, and have far less back flexibility than horses, because they do not have the unique counterbalance system that horses do with their heads and necks. Dogs don't have that either. Large cats are far more flexible than small dogs, or any sort of ungulates. Cows, goats, sheep, etc. have very little flex. It is how the skeleton is built in proportion, how it is articulated, and how its ligamentous structures hook it all together that determines flexibility or the lack of it. It is the horse's unique arrangement that determines their ability to bear weight and still move effectively. That's why we don't ride cows, or lions, or caribou. (A cow has so little flex that many cattle can't even canter on the same lead front and back...) Although many of the basics of gait are the same from one quadruped to the next, the fine details are determined not by size but by how the species is built. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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