With Bravo I would have to suppose the latter. His first attempt at grazing he bent both knees and reach back with his head to get to the ground. As he got a little older I noticed the one foot always forward pattern. He has always had excellent farrier work, was not shod until he was 5 or 6 and is now almost 10. I thought he may be continually crushing down that heel when he was barefoot but it is still that way with shoes on. He has never had a bruising issue with that foot (on the really rocky rides I will use Equithane) - oops I probably just jinxed myself :) We ride in AZ, NV and southern CA.
The horse with the clubfoot came to me at age 1 1/2. He was in very crowded conditions with optimum nutrition (isn't that diplomatic of me). He is turned out 24/7 here with another youngster and they romp and play constantly. There seems to be some remodeling of that foot going on. When he grazes I do not notice that he puts one foot predominantly forward. He is much taller at 15.2 to Bravo at 14.3.
Lee ".......and God sought to bestow upon man a supreme mark of his blessing. God created the horse. The horse could run faster than the deer, jump higher than the goat, and endure longer than the wolf. Man, being encompassed by elements that sought to destroy him, would have been a slave, had the horse not made him king."
