measuring evenness

[MBlanchrd@aol.com]

Hi, folks, 
I saw the post on how to tell if your horse is evenly developed on both sides.
I massage horses, and one of the first things I do is check to see if one side
of the horse is more muscled than the other. As one person said, horses are
"sided" like humans are "handed". A quick and accurate way to check if a horse
is unevenly developed is to take a cloth measuring tape. Stand the horse up,
squarely, on concrete or a level surface. Using your tape measure, measure the
forelegs JUST BELOW where the pectoral muscle ties into the leg. Make sure the
tape is level, all the way around the leg, and make sure that you measure at
the same spot on both legs.
Most of the time the horse will be a little uneven. Any sort of difference
under a 1/2 inch is okay, but if one leg measures over half an inch more than
the other, that's the side he's more built up on.

Michelle and Jordan (hey, mom, I need a massage!)