>>>> I don't see a conformation picture of him on the website, but I would >>>> guess that he has a sloping shoulder from his movement.
Ok, I feel better. But didn't someone say he has an upright shoulder, as if it were a given? Oh well. >>>> I think his ride is uncomfortable, not because of his shoulder, but >>>> because of the whole horse, the way he's put together. >From the way he's put together, or from the way he's forced to move? The only >thing I can say I'm pretty sure I don't like about his conformation is the >long, swan neck. And I'm not 100% sure it would be SO bad if he could move >freely, so that it could muscle up differntly. I don't know. >>>> He actually is doing a four-beat trot (see attached picture), which would >>>> make it harder to post, I believe, and he has a big suspension added in >>>> there. I think I would reverse your cause and effect. In the parts at liberty, once he got started after his initial strutting, his trot was pure two-beat. The still shot you took is of him with that awful, bouncing rider up, water-skiing off his mouth. And I also think you grabbed that shot at the first, and I believe he smoothed out after that - I thought he was about to break to canter at one point. I think that might be more excitement, from pent-up energy, than from an actual gait defect. And, I suspect that I suspect it's influenced by the rider interfering and making it impossible for him to trot naturally. It's really hard to tell though, isn't it? There's just so much going on. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
