This message is from: GAIL RUSSELL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I would love to learn all these things - even though I am highly unlikely to become a significant breeder of Fjords. I did not take Gunthar to the evaluation, or go to the preparation because I was staying home trying to figure out how to handle and ride him so I could survive owning him for another year. :) But I would stop all live-preserving efforts with Gunthar if I thought I would get all this out of a clinic. Might even have been willing to haul Gunthar as an example of a poorly balanced horse for an open evaluation if I knew others would bring their horses for open discussion. If the evaluation had been promoted as all this - I think I might have *made* the time to go, instead of staying home.
>An important supplement to the above list of items during the evaluation, the >breeders and owners should be offered and participate in educational forums on >the conformation and type for the breed. With discussions on common weaknesses >and frequently occurring structural deviations. Those that have significant >genetic links, those with nutritional links, and those that are management >related like the lack of proper hoof care. Correct movement of the horse then >becomes a very important issue. Movement at the walk, trot and eventually the >canter. How to evaluate the movement, and where to stand to assess the >movement. Learn to normal from abnormal. Learn correct conformation from >incorrect. Breed type is also high on the list of discussions. What does the >word 'type' mean? How does it apply to the horse you own? What are the common >characteristics that help define breed type? And so on. >Then, one needs to learn how to develop an eye for looking at the horse. >Learning to determine balance, head to hindquarter, side to side and back to >hoof. Learning to 'weigh' in one's eye the specific regions of the horse for >muscle development, length of bones and definition of joints. Gail Russell Forestville CA [EMAIL PROTECTED]
