Re: what does crabbing mean

["Dolores Arste" <darste@emi.com>]

Just a correction needed here. Dogs and horses trot in exactly the same way.
And, in fact, when a sled dog, that crabs, tires it will also become more
noticeable. What you are describing in the attached can more correctly be
described as "sidewinding" if I read you correctly.
I can't address how to correct this in horses. But, I can in dogs. So since
they are both the same whence trotting, I'll offer it to you.

This problem can be structural (i.e. unbalanced relation ship in the angles
front to rear) or it can be due to "foot timing" being off due to fatigue.
Some hard driving sled dogs will demonstrate this trait while on one side of
a gangline and it will completely disappear when moved to the other. If I
were to guess a correlation in endurance horses I would recommend that you
ensure that you are changing your diagonals frequently and if riding roads
that you change sides at regular intervals even while training to fatigue
the hind end evenly.

If you think it is in the timing or even if it is not, then adjust your trot
out so that he does not over drive from behind. Its usually best to slow
down the trot. Practice by keeping some tension on the lead and adjust the
pace accordingly. He'll then be geared to this pace in the "trot-out" and it
should help.

A good show dog handler will be very adept at masking this type of fault.

Dolores
Braken Schips / Entwood Racing Siberians - Morgans Too!
"Authority without domination, Love without subservience, Respect without
fear"
-----Original Message-----
From: John & Sue Greenall <greenall@vermontel.com>
To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Sunday, December 27, 1998 4:24 PM
Subject: what does crabbing mean


Interesting responses to the crabbing issue has prompted me to
explain what I understand crabbing to mean.  Please feel free to jump
in.  Because horses trot in a diagonal gait, unlike dogs, they cannot
be compared.  When a horse "crabs", one hind leg travels to the
outside of the track, either to the left or right, while the other
steps in or under the horse, thus bearing most of the weight. The
"outside" leg is the one being compensated for.  Many horses will do
this very happily and switch back and forth.  My observations have
shown that the more tired the horse, the more obvious the crabbing.
The two horses that I had both crabbed in one direction, thus working
one hind leg more than the other - one did it all the time to various
degrees.  As work increased, ie top tenning 50's, the crabbing became
more severe until they finally ended up with hind end lameness.  We
tried chiro and acupuncture and massage and all the stuff.  The
problem was consistant enough to end their trail days.
Interestingly, both have very sucessful careers other than distance
riding and have never been lame since.  It woud be interesting to
hear of any other similar experiences.
John and Sue Greenall
mailto:greenall@vermontel.com
http://www.vermontel.com/~greenall