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RE: [RC] [RC] conformation dogs/horses - ranch"...As you noted, things tend to fall apart when you start doing interspecies comparisons at a lope, canter or gallop. Then you're getting into too many variables..." I have never seen a dog that trotted wide behind. Does any breed do this? But I am in agreement that the study of movement of dogs and other animals can sharpen one's eye when it comes to appreciate horse movement. My comments were based on size considerations as a limitation to the evolution of gaits etc. Since my earlier comments I have come up with a thought experiment that may clear things up a bit: 1. Consider a greyhound dog, a horse and an elephant magically scaled to 24" high at the shoulder. The dog and horse weigh about 60 lbs, I think the elephant would be somewhat heavier. All three would be able to do their characteristic gaits. The dog, because it has a flexible back would be more efficient and faster than the horse. The elephant would still walk because of angulation and flexibility issues and would be the slowest. 2. Take the three and make them 15 hands high. The horse would be a horse. The dog would find that its back was to weak and he would be in great difficulty. He would probably die young. The elephant would still be OK, but slow. 3. If they were magically made the size of a elephant. The dog and horse would not be able to stand because of lack of strength and if they did their leg bones would snap. The elephant would continue to be an elephant. Thus we can see that while animals the size of dogs could be built like horses, animals the size of horses can't be build like dogs. Thus one has to make sure that all of the scaling criteria are met when comparing animals of different sizes. I found scaling of products from the laboratory to the factory to be the most difficult part of my job as an industrial inventor. Ed Ed and Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx (406) 642-9640 Cell: (406) 544-2926 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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