>>>> Also, those Bell boots are to protect his front feet, cause he reaches so far under himself with the hind legs, he can hit his front Heel bulbs with a hind hoof, and CUT them up... Unless they are weighted they are not changing his gait...
No, that's not really true. Just the very nature of something on the "ankles" gives the horse an urge to step out of foreign entrapment, or above it. I was told that by the people at the barn when I bought Mac and starting the process of bringing his feet down. A few of them warned me that I was crazy, because it had taken so long to get his feet grown out and adjusted just so, so that his gait was manipulated just as they wanted. What they plainly told me was that if I didn't have the stomach to leave his feet long with the stacks, that I could always use plain bell boots. They told me they wouldn't do the job "as well" but that they could help. It's not just the weight that affects gait. In fact, sometimes I don't really think the weight has as much impact as changing the angles, or adding something foreign around the pasterns. Did you know that the stacks themselves have very little weight to them? I picked them up when they took Mac's off, and was surprised that they are relatively light. They easily could have added heavier shoes than he was wearing, but different trainers have different formulas for manipulating. We only boarded him at that barn for about six weeks, until our fence was complete and we could bring Mac and Thunder home. I learned more than I wanted to in that time though. >>>> The long toes will cause him to breakover later... Long toes are very common in TWH. But, most of the Saddlebreds I've seen don't really have especially long toes. Instead, you see the entire hoof growing long. I'm sure different trainers have different variations or tricks, but longer toes tend to be the recommendation for making a pacey horse "square up." You can even find that in print many places as a recommendation for pacey Icelandic's. Since trot has always been an acceptable gait in Saddlebreds, I don't think you see many pacey Saddlebreds, whereas pacey horses have been rampant in TWH and Icelandic's. Karen Thomas, NC
