>>>> Yes, shorter strides...so if you are seeing some reach in this horse...I >>>> would suggest it's not there naturally.
Ok, can we back up a minute? I admit - I'm very susceptible to optical illusions, so maybe I'm just off base. Does the Saddlebred in the "freak show" video really have a straight shoulder? When I say straight, I mean upright, as opposed to "laid back". I don't see a really good conformation still picture of him. I've tried to freeze-frame the video and am not really having any luck stopping it at a good spot and when I get close, I get confused by that unnaturally held-high head-set. And then when the horse is ridden, the horse sort of sits back on his haunches (gee, do you think his bouncing on the cantle has anything to do with that?) and then his shoulder really looks laid back to me...but I'm pretty sure that part is just an illusion. I tend to think that horse has some natural "reach" in front. Am I wrong? And wouldn't "reach" be more of a trait associated with a shoulder that's at least somewhat laid-back? I've always thought that reach is not so easy to fake mechanically. I know that knee action is VERY easy to manipulate. My gut would tell me that any reach we're seeing is more natural, whereas the "lift" part is manmade. Does anyone else have any thoughts? Man, this just really convinces me that I sure wouldn't make any breeding decisions based on this video or on these pictures...even if would pay $1500 for a breeding fee, which I won't. I've been staring at that horse off and on all day and I'm still not sure of what I see in him...but I still don't think HE is so bad, if we could just strip away the "stuff". Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
