On Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 06:06:27PM -0800, Judy Ryder wrote: > >>> how's that for a bunch of speculating? > > Pretty good!
aww, thanks :) > >> [] Horseshoes with borium > > > [...] > How would they work if a horse was shod on only two feet? presuming it was the front feet, my impression is that those are the feet that carry most of the horse's weight -- the forefeet being under the heavy structure of the shoulders and doing most of the support for the head and neck as well. so i'd guess that if the back feet slipped, it would be like when your foot slips after you've already taken most of your weight off it -- a bit disorienting, but unlikely to make you fall down. (this happened to me this morning, walking the dog sans yaktrax. it was sunny, and i failed to check the thermometer...) > >> [] Horseshoes with studs > > > > (things that stick out further than the shoe surface), my first guess > > would be that they work like borium in providing more scratch and grip. > > OK. And how does that work in regard to the way a horse's foot "slides" > into place? i don't know enough about the mechanism of this to say. when i look at a horse's footprints (we were just at the beach a couple weeks ago, so i had a great opportunity to do this for several different horses at a variety of gaits!) most of the prints were pretty clear, like a single stamp, without evidence of "slide" from one place to another. or do you mean that the heel and toe (or outside and inside, like on skates?) get set down in some order, and the "slide" is between one part of the foot and another? thanks for discussing such an interesting topic! --vicka
