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My Arab gelding, Jakar, forges at times. Mostly, he does it on uneven
ground and I've noticed while longing that he tucks his back feet
directly under his fronts at the trot. When worked with Easyboots, he
has scuff marks all up the fronts of his rear feet. He's never pulled a
shoe in the three years I've had him, nor does he bruise the walls of
his white rear hooves. He doesn't interfere at all. He stays shod and
used year-round.
Jakar is very smooth riding, and before we got our SS, did most of our
training bareback. He is of Egyptian breeding predominately through the
Nazeer, Moniet, and Fadl lines, and also has a smattering of CMK
throughout his dam's side.
He isn't a compact horse. He stands 15-15.1 and has a longer back and
longer legs than most. He has enough room underneath that he doesn't
need to widen up in the rear to clear his fronts, except in his biggest
trot. I like a medium trot for distance work, so we only do the giant
trot in training to strengthen his "motor" muscles. The canter is much
easier on the him than that big trot and makes more sense in
competition.
His biggest fault is his droopy back, which most western-type saddles
bridged. (Pay attention breeders, we need better shaped backs in this
breed. I'm not the only one with this complaint.)
Jakar also tends to square off his rear toes by dragging them. He does
this mostly when just wandering around his pasture, but will do it under
saddle unless I keep him in a marching walk. Our farrier has rolled the
toes on all fours and stood him up more to around a 50 degree angle
gradually over the past two year's shoeings. He also hardened the rear
shoes to avoid having them only half-width at the toes by his six week
shoeing during the heavy riding seasons. He seems to go well like this
and is still every bit as smooth as ever.
Nikki and Jakar
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