well, at least i can tell someone actually read that huge long thing, LOL!
now on the difference in movement between front and hind legs, just because you see a foreleg making more than the hind leg or not parallel the hind cannon isn’t in and of itself a problem. it depends on exactly what is going on. again, look at the hind leg first to see if its motion is correct. then look at the front leg.
if the action of the hind leg is faulty, it is faulty. you don’t need to compare to the front leg first - look at the back first.
usually what happens is you see a fancy lifted motion of the foreleg, and a lagging, dragging hind leg that is nowhere near it.
if you see a correct hindleg moving up with a big ‘‘V’’ between it and the other hind leg and that V doesn’t close at the hocks but runs all the way up to the horse’s body, you have a correct working hind leg - it also has to be straight, and not spread apart. this is harder to tell from a side photo but you can learn to see this - look at the shadow beneath the horse that might show hind feet widely separated, and look for a ‘‘c0cked’’ foot or angled cannon on the hind leg that shows the hind leg is twisting rather than reaching forward.
now usually when you see the hind cannon is angled, the hoof will look ‘‘snatched’’ or sharply bent - it shouldn’t, it should hang down loosely when it is in the air. usually if you see the hind leg is c0cked, angled or snatched, you can look right up and see that the back is dropped as well, and the neck is not through.
you’ll see what looks like the hind legs swinging and rocking at the hip (croup) as the horse struggles with his balance.
balance of this horse is much like you carrying a box of ferrets on your shoulders. you can start to fall over, just catch yourself, lean way back to compensate, just catch yourself, fall forward, manage to rescue yourself, and somehow stay on your feet. but what is wanted in the dressage horse is not this ‘‘saving himself’’ sort of struggle, but a smooth, overall balanced action that doesn’t lose and regain balance, but keeps it all the time.
if a horse is a little ‘‘on idle’’ behind in a picture, i don’t mind much if it is basically correct. first, photographers often take the worst moments of the strides, and there is a time before the hind leg comes through that can give a bad impression.
i just don’t want to see it at every stride all the time. if i DO see it, i might conclude the rider is lazy, or the horse is (i might see a lazy looking hind end on a stallion and conclude his offspring will be JUST PERFECT for an old amateur like myself, to tell the truth), or it is not correctly trained.
now looking at the foreleg and shoulder. this is where the most people make the most mistakes.
‘‘look at him flip his toes’’, people will croon, watching a horse trot medium or extended, but actually this is incorrect.
this is what a horse does that is in tension in the shoulders and cannot move his shoulders.
no, most emphatically not, you do not want to see the horseshoe when you stand in front of the horse, LOL.
i am sorry to say this trait most people love is incorrect. that is all there is to it.
the foreleg shouldn’t be rigid and stiff. the foot shouldn’t flip up.
there should be a loose, relaxed reaching look to the foreleg and shoulder. there will still be a tiny bend in the knee, just a degree, no more, showing the leg is relaxedly reaching.
the foot should not flip up, but point to where it will land. and it should land where it points.
if the foot is thrown forward and withdrawn backwards to land at a point BEHIND where it tried to point to, the action is not correct. there is tension and perhaps an innate lack of scope in the horse as well, but surely there is tension and loss of balance and correctness.
a really good medium or extended trot is NOT AT ALL flashy or extravagant looking, the tempo is the same as the other trot (collected, medium) and there is no flying feet. it should look completely unremarkable.
only that when you see how far each stride takes the horse, you look and say, ‘‘oh my GOD’’.
you see the borsalino horse that got a 10 on extended trot at essen.
you look at the video.
take a card and cover the bottom of the picture. look at the horse and rider without the legs of the horse showing.
it looks so normal trotting.
then look only at the legs. and look how far the horse is going over the ground.
that is a correct movement. that is a 10.
[This message was edited by slc on Jan. 24, 2001 at 11:16 AM.]
You make a good description. And, you are right on about diagonal legs, etc. Many horses in stallion promotional photos have the extravagant legs up high in front, and the rear is lagging by barely coming off the ground. That is WRONG because it shows front legs moving at a much faster pace than hind legs. Not good and stressful on the horse’s body, to boot. Good observation.
So you will be riding in the clinic? I might get to see you ride. It’s great to have more classical trainers available! 
