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How do the canters compare? I've ridden a couple horse in my days with 
big rears and powerful trots - but the canter was just not good unless 
you let them stretch out. Then I've ridden some with so so trots but 
would relax into an smooth easy rolling canter at 9 to 10 mph and would 
just roll on forever.

Our current riding horses are a good example. The Jbird has a huge butt. 
He's been mistaken more than once for a quarter horse. You can just feel 
the power on every stride. My wife's horse doesn't have a huge butt - 
he's more normally proportion I would say. His trot is not all that 
powerful but he will just relax into an easy rolling canter you at about 
nine mph and just roll on. It is very easy to ride. They will go side by 
side, Ego rolling on in an easy canter and Jbird trotting out. It seems 
that the sweet sport for the Jbird at a trot is 10 - 12 mph and the 
sweep sport for Ego's rolling canter is the same. However, what the 
Jbird has in a smooth easy trot - he makes up for in a canter. I have to 
let him stretch out to an easy hand gallop before he smooths out.

I Grand Prix level dressage instructor that lives near us who we have 
taken lessons from over the yeras told me one time that the walk and 
canter are God given and she always looked for such a horse. She went on 
to say - you can always teach a great trot but you can't really teach a 
great canter. She loves Ego because of his natural long walk and natural 
smooth and easy canter. She's tried to buy him more than once. The Jbird 
on the other hand - she has little use for him.

I'm not sure which is better - I've seen good horses from both camps. 
While I haven't actually delved into the conformation issues as to why 
this might or might not be true - does anyone have any comments.

Truman

Dawn Carrie wrote:
> Mary,
> Like you, I'm a big fan of a good butt. <G> I have two horses I'm 
> riding now, and they are as different as night and day. One is a 14.2h 
> pure CMK gelding with a gorgeous hindquarter...long, deep, and full. 
> Once he gets muscled up, he's going to look like a quarterhorse. <G> 
> He's only done one 50 so far. My other horse is just shy of 15.2h, 
> almost pure Egyptian, and has a much smaller, shorter hip. He's done 
> two 100s and a lot of 50s just fine, but he just doesn't have the 
> power coming from behind that the CMK gelding has...and I attribute 
> that to the CMK horse's much better hip. When I'm riding the CMK, I 
> can feel an incredible amount of power thrusting from the rear. That 
> little guy can leave the taller horse in the dust at a trot without 
> even trying. They both have good bone and good sized feet. Unless a 
> horse had tiny, spindley, china-doll legs, I think most well-conformed 
> Arabs have adequate bone for the sport...I'm not including the "halter 
> creatures," or rejects from that venue, in the well-conformed group. 
> <G> When I look at a horse, I'll look at the amount of bone, but I'm 
> more concerned with a good hip, nice back, deep body, and nice 
> shoulder, as well as decent (straight, or at least with not *major* 
> faults) legs.
> Dawn Carrie
>
> On 3/6/07, *Mary Howell* <mary.howell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> <mailto:mary.howell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>
>     I watched about 60 horses vet in to a ride last fall and was impressed
>     by two horses who had powerful looking hind ends and a smooth
>     relaxed trot
>     that reflected this confirmation. Both horses did well in the 100, and
>     the owner of these horses agreed to let me work with one of her
>     "extras"
>     through the winter.
>
>     Even before conditioning, the mare's hind end had a powerful
>     looking shape -
>     almost like my QH cross - rounded through the croup area and with
>     a full
>     haunch and thigh. Seems as though a lot of Arabs with Crabbet or
>     Al Marah
>     bloodlines have this build.
>
>     Although this mare has delicate legs and teeny feet - 00 in front
>     and 000 in
>     back - she's never took a lame step throughout training and after
>     about 2
>     months of gradually increasing speed and intensity, was able to
>     keep up with
>     my much taller and larger gelding no problem - that hind end gives
>     her the
>     needed push.
>
>     She'll be tackling her first 55 miler in 10 days and I'm eager to
>     see how
>     she does - working with her has revised some of my perceptions about
>     necessary confirmation. As long as the legs are straight and the
>     horse has a
>     good way of going, I'd prioritize well built hindquarters over
>     cannon bone
>     measurement.
>
>
>
>
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