Posted by Brooke on September 21, 2001 at 02:23:01:
I recently bought an 8-year-old TB, an ex-racehorse whose previous owner had done hunters with him. My interest is dressage. This horse has a fair bit of talent, but his major problem is that he's cow-hocked and ends up interfering at both the trot and canter (sometimes so badly that he swaps leads, though this may be a holdover from the hunter way of riding). One vet recommended lateral extensions on the hind feet, but I've heard both positive and negative things about trailers. Thanks to the beating he took as a hunter, there are some arthritic changes in the hocks, and I want to avoid putting extra stress on them (as I've been told trailers might). Is it better to allow the horse to continue in his 'natural' way of going, or to correct the hind leg action?