Posted by Laura Staples on July 20, 2001 at 16:12:51:
In Reply to: Re: overreaching at walk - fixable? posted by Laura Staples on July 17, 2001 at 19:39:32:
: : : I have an opportunity to buy a very nice thoroughbred gelding that overreaches badly at the walk. He appears (to my untrained eye) to be hitting the bottom of his front hoof with the toe of his hind hoof. He does this when loose, when led, and when ridden, and he does it evenly on both sides, nearly every step when walking out. He has to have bell boots anytime he is out of his stall -without them, he pulls shoes. He only has shoes in the front. He does not interfere at any other gait. I suspect that my very skilled farrier will be able to correct this problem, but I have to make a decision on the horse before he can see him. I will be vet checking the horse, but I don't want to waste money on the vet check if there is no chance of correcting this problem. Do you think there is a good chance that the problem can be managed? His feet look well cared for and balanced, and not overly long but his front shoes have a slight overhang and his hind toes are not squared off.
: : : Thanks!
: : It really sounds like this horse lazy. If that is the case it will be a hard problem to deal with. You might be able to roll or rocker the shoe and this may help.
: : If interest in the horse have it vet check to see if there is another reason. you might want to check the eyes and teeth as well.
: : Just my thinking.
: : Ray Miller
: Thanks for your answer. I suspect getting a quicker breakover on the front feet and maybe taking off some toe on the hind feet (squaring, maybe) will help. The horse overreaches at an energetic walk, but not at a slow walk, and doesn't have trouble at any other gait. He has very little knee action, and carries his head low and swinging at a very loose and relaxed walk. As he lengthens the walk stride, he starts striking the front feet. At the energetic walk, he has a lot of flexible motion in his hip and a BIG step with the hind legs. Visually, he appears to be taking a larger stride in the back than in the front. When you say maybe he is being lazy, do you mean lazy in moving out in the front? He doesn't stumble. I have a vet check scheduled for Saturday, but I don't want to spend the money for the vet check if overreaching is incurable and just a result of legs that are too long! I will pass on the horse altogether if he will be constantly pulling his shoes, and clicking every step in the show ring.
: thanks!
Good news follow-up to this post - my farrier was able to almost completely eliminate this overreaching problem. The horse's shoes were too big and were overhanging the hoof at the toe and at the heel. He was very slow to break over on his front feet so his hinds were striking his fronts before they swung forward. With a properly fitted aluminum shoe and a better trim on all four feet, the problem went away.
thanks!