Re: Endurance Movement

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@ici.net>]

Tracking wide behind at the trot so that the hind legs surround
the front legs is called "straddling." (Meaning the hind legs of
the horse "straddle" the front legs of the horse.)

All racing standardbreds straddle.  Something fierce!

Past a certain point in speed and extension at the trot, the horse
simply has to straddle its hind leg to avoid striking the front leg
on the same side.  Its only alternative is to start "hitching"
its hind legs.  You will see this sometimes in show roadster-to-bike
classes at ASB and Morgan shows.  At speed, the roadster's hind
legs will appear to hesitate.  The horse is freezing its leg in
midair to avoid striking the front foot on the same side.  This
usually gets a big reaction from the crowd (if anybody remembers
the Morgan roadster mare Greentree Maryjane, she used to hitch to
beat the band), but a Standardbred man would consider it a
profound gait flaw in a prospective trotter.  Oddly, straddling
is considered a flaw in a show roadster.  I've never understood
this.

If I were concerned about any aspect of gait in a horse I was
thinking of buying, I'd videotape the horse in motion and
play it back in slow motion and freeze frame.

Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA