That photo is so horrendous I have trouble believing it isn’t photoshopped.
I think he is over at the knees. Here is another one picture below, I assume it gets more pronounced as they age.
Of course the famous St Simon was also over at the knees.
Here’s a better photo of Into Mischief.
And a link to his current sire statistics:
http://www.equineline.com/extendedcontent/bh.cfm?StallionRef=7436720&rtype=stats&ASCID=1443262
Racetrack farriery is a complicated issue.
From one racehorse/farm farrier I trust, as told to me about 15 years ago. Paraphrased to the best of my memory:
"We don’t help these horses by slapping shoes on them as yearlings for the sales, but that’s what’s done, because no one wants to pay big money for a foot-sore yearling who wore his toes out walking the gravel at Keeneland.
“Then many of those yearlings go on to the 2yo sales, shod all around for months in training. Their feet don’t get to grow and develop naturally as a barefoot horse would. Imagine what these horses are doing-- galloping AT HIGH SPEED, throwing their toes out there with every stride, slamming them to the ground at immense force. They are literally slinging their toes out long, and smashing their heels every step when they breeze. As a farrier (speaking of himself) you can only do so much to try and keep the foot together in the best functional shape you can. It’s true some cheap platers (referring to other track farriers) will leave the toe long because of the old myth about longer strides…but a good many of us know better and try to get the foot underneath them. It’s a physics problem, though; a conformational problem, too, the way the horses move and the job they do.”
Prior to this conversation, I just assumed all TBs had bad feet because of crappy racetrack farriers who simply shod a long toe and didn’t care about heels. But after realizing the mechanics of a galloping horse-- especially a young 2yo with an undeveloped digital cushion-- I realized even the best racetrack farriers will face difficulty in the job. That’s certainly not to say ALL racehorses have bad feet at the track; I’ve taken two off the track who where blessed with awesome feet. One of those had a VERY particular owner, who insisted the mare be shod under supervision of a specific (long distance) farrier. The trainer told me the long distance farrier would Face Time his random track farrier, demanding live video of every foot during trimming and plating, and if something wasn’t done right the random track farrier had to do it over. The trainer sounded deeply annoyed by the hassle, but I have to say that mare’s feet were gorgeous and beautifully balanced.
Her feet the day I brought her home:
Both my two OTTBs with super feet came from long term connections (breeder/owner for one, and yearling purchaser for the other). Neither went through a 2yo sale. While I can’t be certain, it’s likely both of them were barefoot for much of their 2yo year. Neither of them were very fast either, as evident by their sport horse careers beginning at age 3 and 4.
For my own racing homebreds, I keep them barefoot as long as possible. My 2021 colts were started and galloped barefoot this spring. The two entered in the June 2yo sale had shoes put on in May, at the consignors insistence. The one that scratched had his shoes pulled immediately after the sale, and remained barefoot through the summer as he prepped to go to the races. He has beautiful, strong, healthy feet. He was shod again when he went to the track to race, and shoes pulled again when he came home two weeks ago. The event lines on his feet are staggering; a giant groove corresponding to each time he went with/without shoes. He was done by good farriers, who maintained his natural short toe and sturdy heel; but still there is a noticeable difference in hoof contraction when the shoes were put on.
That was very informative and interesting. Thank you.