Re: RC: re: Stride Length

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/22/99 10:20:46 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Tivers writes:

<< The idea of the long toe low heal shoeing technique, in the minds of the 
primitives who use it, is that the stride is lengthened. It's been shown that 
this type of shoeing encourages foreleg injury in racehorses. >>

I don't think the problems with that are limited to racehorses!  Certainly 
the stride is lengthened, but it takes much more force to break over the long 
toe, and the low heel causes more stretch and stress to the entire suspensory 
apparatus, neither of which is particularly helpful if one's goal is to keep 
the horse sound!

As for the length of stride if the horse is shod naturally/properly, there is 
still a lot of difference between horses, and just from my experience as a 
grunt in the field for many years, I'd say that the horses that take off 
"big" and land hard have the biggest problem--and stride length combined with 
those traits has been a selection factor in the Arab show ring, and has 
carried over as somehow being "desirable" in our sport.  The "daisy-cutters" 
tend to stay sound, as do those with shorter stride lengths, provided they 
aren't real pile-drivers.

Heidi


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