Cross post from Sport Horse Breeding - thoughts on Paddling?

[RedOakAcres]

Cross post from the Sport Horse Breeding discussion board. Is paddling a deal breaker in a dressage horse?

I’m thinking of getting my young Hanoverian mare inspected this fall. She’s a big moving mare with an active hind leg and has a lot of reach in her shoulders with a lot of knee action. Unfortunately that creates paddling with her front legs in trot. Is this more acceptable these days or considered to be a major flaw? I uploaded video to YouTube. Here’s the link.

https://youtube.com/shorts/eKZBBMDK81I?feature=share 3

I use Cavallo boots on her front hooves since my arena surface is abrasive. Maybe that exacerbates the paddling?

[IPEsq]

Hoof shape and trim can influence paddling a lot. Perhaps the boots effectively create too much toe for her? What do her feet look like? Have you compared her movement without boots?

[RedOakAcres]

I always use the boots so I don’t know how it compares. I’ll have to get some video this weekend.

[Mondo]

This is an interesting question. I’ve noticed a lot of the Baroque breeds paddle. It’s almost a given. I’ve never known a Hanoverian to do it. I hope some real judges (I’m just a little judge of 4H and schooling shows) chime in and let us know if that’s a bad thing for them.

[netg]

I would check if you’re allowed to use rhe boots at inspection - and if not, do some sort of temporary allowed solution to ensure she is super comfortable there.
I don’t see much paddling on the circle, really. I know other registries have said it’s not a cause for mark down, but for sure asking on the breeding forum will get you the right resources to know the answer for Hanoverian. The video clearly could be very deceiving, but if she has an offset right cannon or just crooked leg as it looks in the video that is more likely to affect scoring. I wouldn’t necessarily let that prevent me from doing an inspection - my girl has stayed sound with her less than ideal legs, has had a foal with more correct legs, and when I breed her it will be to a stallion known for correct legs in his offspring.

[iberianfan]

I don’t know about the Hanoverian registry, but in judging dressage, paddling is not to be counted against the horse. Of course that doesn’t answer your question…

[atlatl]

I don’t know how the Hanoverian registry looks at it, but I have a Swedish WB that paddles a bit in front and he was registered as a premium foal. His legs are straight, he just paddles a little.

My recollection from the L program is that it’s not a problem as long as they don’t interfere by whacking themselves.

[IPEsq]

I’ve known some Iberian horses that quit paddling once they were trimmed not to have overly tall (long), upright feet. I think if the horse is straight legged (including not being very pigeon toed on one or both legs), paddling is more often a sign of a problem with hoof care. But as said above, boots necessarily add some effective toe length by virtue of the fact that they surround the foot, and that might be enough to cause a problem in a horse sensitive to that small change in effective length. Also seen it with glue on shoes that have a larger cuff around the foot.

[Bogey2]

My now 18 year old paddled as a 2 year old and still did very well at the inspections and breed shows. He was big for a 2 year old and only paddled for about a year. It was slight and he was barefoot then. My baroque horse paddled when I bought him (lightly started) and no longer does 4 years later.

[merrygoround]

As others have mentioned, a proper trim can reduce or eliminate paddling. Unfortunately, not every farrier has the ability to balance correctly. Should a change in balance reduce the problem,I would schedule a trim the day before the testing as barefoot horses bance their own foot to where it was.

And yes, the boots can exacerbate the problem.

[beowulf]

It’s my experience conformational paddling in sport horses is truly rare, but trimming or soundness induced paddling is not. As others said, an unbalanced trim or even additional weight (hoofboots, heavy shoes, etc) can contribute to degree of paddling, and if they are tense, the paddling can be more pronounced.

When the source of paddling is truly conformational, the horse typically toes out, sometimes in combination with too-soft pasterns.

I’ve seen paddling be much worse if there is something pathological going on in the hoof. (Not saying that is the case here at all with your pretty mare) There used to be an old boarder of mine that had a really nice WB in his teens who needed some maintenance; he would always paddle when it was time to reinject his coffin joint.

[DownYonder]

My understanding from being involved with warmblood inspections for many years is that paddling is more often “overlooked” in males than in females. The theory is that the vast majority of males will be gelded, whereas females are more likely to go into breeding at some point. And while it is one thing to have a performance horse that paddles (since judges don’t really penalize it), it is another thing to have it in a breeding animal. Colts that paddle are usually spun out during their stallion inspections and not licensed, even if they are otherwise good stallion quality because registries generally don’t want stallions that paddle in their breeding populations. Mares that paddle get dinged on correctness during their inspections, with the inspectors commenting on it and sometimes advising the owner to either not breed the mare or be very, very careful about using a stallion who is very correct in that area.

And my advice is, take your mare to inspection and get her enrolled in the mare books while she is young. You don’t want to take a chance on her getting injured before she gets inspected, as that could jeopardize her scoring and possibly affect her mare book placement. Once she is in a mare book, she is lifetime approved for breeding within that registry (and possibly others that recognize her achievement and won’t require mare inspection).

[Edited for clarity.]

[MsM]

I suspect a lot depends upon her conformation. Does she toe in or toe out? If so, where does the deviation start and to what degree? I think the inspectors will take a good look at that.
You may be able to help with trimming, but you have to respect the conformation to some degree and not try to force it. I also agree that the boots amplify the problem.

I think terms vary. I was taught that pigeon toed horses “paddle” where the path of the hoof deviates to the outside. This was considered a lesser problem than “winging in” from a toed out horse where the path deviates inward and can strike the opposite leg.

[omare]

I am always having to do a double take at TSF Dalera BB conformation-I guess it is not paddling but she definitely toes in at least with one leg (or are my eyes fooling me?) TIA

[RedOakAcres]

Thanks everyone! I lunged/rode her without the boots today and the paddling was almost nonexistent. The farrier is coming Tuesday so I’ll discuss shoes vs continued barefoot with him.

[merrygoround]

Continue barefoot!!!

[keh]

She’s sound, so I wouldn’t try too hard to change anything. I had a horse that paddled a lot. In talking to my farrier, we decided to not try & fix it. His reasoning was that she wore her shoes/feet evenly. He said that when you watch many of these horses in slow motion, their legs come off the ground correctly & they land correctly…they just do some weird stuff in between. Good luck with her - She’s lovely!