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Originally Posted by The Ocho
Thanks for the thread CP. Very interesting although I cannot tell the difference between the stride of Kinz Funky Monkey and The Green Monkey, but that's just me, hopeless at that sort of thing (or punting in general). But very nice post.
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The Ocho,
There are many factors to stride, but here's some pointers.
The front legs should be reaching from the shoulder and should be long in stride.
The lead should come from the shoulder and not from the knees.
The knees should only bend to accomodate the lead from the shoulder, they should not be where the stride comes from.
The hind legs should almost fill the spaces the front legs leave behind, they should not drag or hit the ground just underneath the belly.
The gait should be fluid in action and the best way to see this is at a slow lope or canter, watching the head and neck action can be a good indicator.
The shoulders should be at a 45 degree angle or more to the neck and you should be able to see a triangle from the start of the neck to the withers, down the shoulder and back up to the neck.
An indication of heart size is the chest cavity.
From the top of the withers straight down to the elbow should be very deep.
The deeper the better, providing all other factors are in proportion.
I'm at a loss to see how some of these buyers assess a horse in the short time in the parade ring at the sales. It takes me a good 20 minutes to fully assess a horse and certainly would need to be right up close. Perhaps the big spenders get private viewing time
10 miniutes on overall conformation and 10 minutes hands on.
The hind legs should also be wider than the front legs.
Thinkk of how a cheetah runs, with it's rear legs either side of the front legs, this is how it gets it's speed, by the spring and leverage action, only we don't want a horse to overreach.
Horses that actually overreach and clip their own front heels do not have ideal conformation. The hind legs should be filling the spaces left by the front legs, only wider, not the same spaces.
This information does not only apply to buying and breeding, it can be a huge guide to a horse's potential, especially with regard to lightly raced horses, and first starters.