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> I am wondering overall what the longevity of soundness is....since so
> many seem to race for years.....do they tend to be a breed that can
> "power trot" forever without suspensory injuries or other leg problems?
> Is this a breed where the "crooked leg; badly conformed" have been
> mostly weeded out?
They tend to be proportionate and have balanced bodies--which is the #1
factor in staying sound, IMO.  (They have "weeded out" horses that can't
trot at top speed heat after heat--and to do that, they HAVE to be
balanced!)  As for the "power trot"--since it doesn't have a lot of loft
and wasted motion, it tends to be less concussive than horses with really
"showy" trots.  The horses I really stay away from, regardless of breed,
are the ones that have the "big" trots that are like pogo sticks--fancy to
look at, but difficult to ride.  That concussion that makes them tough to
ride will also trash their legs.  When a good Standardbred goes into
"overdrive" his back actually drops (or more accurately, his entire body
drops--not to be confused with hollowing) and the hind legs go wide to
clear the fronts, and it is all forward motion.  Not one bit of flash and
dash to waste or to interrupt the smoothness of it.

The Arabs that hold up also tend to trot with that sort of efficiency as
well--not the speed and "overdrive" for which the Standardbred has been
selected, but not the big flailing "show trot" either.  As Ed H said about
Saddlebreds and NSHs, some horses can do both.  And if so, that's great. 
(I had an Arab mare like that once--she could "park" with the best of
them, but out on the trail, it was all long and low and smooth, and really
went scootin'!)  But others with big showy trots can be one-trick
ponies--and they do eventually flail themselves into lameness, if they are
asked to do too many miles.

Heidi



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