This message is from: GAIL RUSSELL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Eike, thank you for addressing this topic, which is near and dear to my
heart. A couple other comments - which I hope will elicit comment/argument. :)
At 11:22 PM 5/13/2000 +0200, you wrote:
>This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Eike Schoen-Petersen)
>now I believe you've struck an interesting topic. A very important
>consideration when talking about a "typical" fjord horse body! I agree that a
>long back makes it more work for horse and rider to collect the horse - BUT a
>short back can be very hard to sit on (bad suspension)
I agree. My "Couldn't Canter Collected If His Life Depended On It" Fjord
("CCCIHLDONI" for short) has a wonderful, easy to sit trot..
and the short backed
>horses quite often don't have the length of stride we would like to see in a
>horse for riding.
Is the short back really what makes for length of stride? Or is it a well
laid back shoulder that allows for stride length? My CCCIHLDONI Fjord has a
well laid back shoulder. His Norwegian evaluation at Libby in 1991 said,
"good mover," and "long back and "weak muscling." He can walk out like
crazy (outwalks every horse we have on a trail ride) and has a beautiful
long reach in his front legs, BUT, due to his long back and loin that is
combined with a weak hip//croup, he does not have the suspension coming from
behind that would make the long reach look really impressive.
The very short backed horses were in fashion in Germany in
>the fifties and sixties as draught horses, after that we looked more for a
>rectangular frame instead of quadratic.
>
>That doesn't mean there isn't a limit to length of back that can be tolerated,
>but with good muscling and a long enough, slanted hip you can have a marvelous
>riding horse. Look at some of those dressage warmbloods, they aren't
>neccessarily short.
One question to ask is whether a long, sloping shoulder, plus good withers,
will create the appearance of a shorter back, when the back is not really
"short" - it is just that it is about the same length as the shoulders. My
CCCIHLDONI Fjord (IMO) has a shoulder that about matches his back, BUT, he
has weak hindquarters - that make his back seem really overlong in
comparison to his hindquarters. IF he had good hindquarters, he would
probably look balanced overall - even with a "long" back.
In contrast, my mare's back looks a bit long. I believe it appears that way
because she has a more upright shoulder and not much in the way of withers.
Her stride is not particularly long.
>
>When evaluating horses in Germany we try to think about the population as a
>whole and to allow for a certain variation. Personally we own a stallion that
>is quite short in the back, can canter on the spot and is used on the longer
>backed less athletic mares and we own a stallion that is quite long in the
back,
>a very smooth ride moving freely. And - of course - the short backed horse
will
>naturally canter or gallup while the long backed horse will overtake him in
the
>trot!
YUP. I impulse-bought my new "short backed" stallion because he had a
wonderful canter in a round pen. His short back does not seem to create a
short reach. I believe this is so because a long stride comes from his long
sloping, shoulder. I have not ridden him - so don't know whether the
shorter back compromises the "shock absorbers." Probably does. American
cars of the 70's were overlong tanks, but the ride was sure smooth!
More discussion/education on the subject always appreciated. I'm still
trying to figure all this out.
Just as an aside - my farrier told me that my Percheron/TB cross has a SHORT
back, and that is why he is pulling off his right front shoe. Well - I
think he is out of his mind - this horse seems very long backed to me.
Haven't had the chance to put horse in front of farrier again and talk this
over with him - but I was amazed. Made me realize that "long backed" and
"short backed" may somehow be in the eye of the beholder.
Gail
Gail Russell
Forestville CA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
