The very best of endurance types…
As I understand it, this is the best kind for endurance s well as surefootedness:
http://www.kickingdonkeyproducts.com/images/Rudy%20&%20River%20(1).jpg
I think you have something there!
Unlike an eohippus (size of average dog and well, extinct), mules really are a great choice :D. Potato Richardson top-tenned with one at the Tevis years ago.
Yes, it makes sense that an endurance prospect must not be extinct. :lol::lol: I understand that a mule will not do something that will hurt it, so if safety is a big issue for a rider, mules are a great way to go. Some of the happiest faces I see out on the trail belong to mule riders.
Personally, if I worry that my OTTB can’t handle the terrain, I either get off and lead him or turn back. My little half-arab mare was much more sure footed than my big boy. Still, I’m not trading him in on an Arab, a Mustang, a mule, or an eohippus. (Do they even use that word anymore? The last time I went to the Natural History museum in DC, they didn’t call it eohippus anymore. 
)
TB’s Hoofin’ IT
[QUOTE=rcloisonne;2511745]
It’s the feet. 
TB’s are notorious for having thin soles, weak digital cushions, and negative plane coffin bones. In fact, I’ve only seen one TB in my life I could honestly say had really good feet. They haven’t just been bred for it. :eek:[/QUOTE]
It is a common slam that TB’s get, having bad hooves…
It really isn’t the TB’s at all, it is the farriers trimming them
& the trainers/owners wanting them all to have LTLH…any
horse would break down with being trimmed/shod that way
all it’s life…
I suspect it also has a lot to do with why so many break down.
Some (not all, so don’t flame me) trainers demand that their TB’s
have LTLH, as they believe it increases the length of stride… it
is also common in Arabian show horses, to have LTLH, as it makes
the horse take longer strides in trot…making it look more “floaty”…
it also breaks them down.
Many TB’s go just fine without shoes, and a good farrier…I personally
know several.
Amen to Trak’s post. Added to that is that a lot of racehorses get shod as yearlings for the sale, before they are done growing. I also recently listened to two track farriers complaining about how the trainers/owners want them to lower the heels and lengthen the toes and how this contributes to the horse breaking down young.
I trim a few OTTB’s with good feet, but the best TB feet are on the horse’s that were not bred for racing and weren’t shod and worked hard at a very young age.
Still, there is no question that a number of OTTB’s have poor feet. I’m wondering whether my OTTB’s feet will hold up to 50 mile rides. He’s barefoot and I plan to compete him in boots. His walls have gotten nice and thick but seem to be less strong than hoof walls on some other breeds, notably Arabians and Morgans. Some of those horses can have an inch of extra growth without it cracking and breaking up! :eek: Not that that is good for the horse, but heck, my guy breaks up and/or flares when his walls outgrow the soles by 1/4"!
I didn’t mean that as a slam of TB’s. They are a noble breed. There just are soooo many with bad feet. Breeding, early shoeing, incorrect shoeing, pushed too hard too young, whatever. Once this is in evidence, it’s almost impossible to correct. At least, that’s been my experience.
I suspect it also has a lot to do with why so many break down.
I totally agree! It always amazes me when someone asks for conformation opinions on this or that TB, nobody ever looks at the horse’s feet! Major underun heels on the fronts and obvious negative plane coffin bones behind on one or more hooves are so common. As long as the neck is long and the withers are higher than the hip, the consensus is, Woohoo! Great conformation! Next we hear about the hock and stifle injections, chiro sessions, etc… :rolleyes: Whenever I evaluate a TB, the first thing I look at is the feet. Sadly, I’m almost always disappointed.
Some (not all, so don’t flame me) trainers demand that their TB’s have LTLH, as they believe it increases the length of stride… it is also common in Arabian show horses, to have LTLH, as it makes the horse take longer strides in trot…making it look more “floaty”…it also breaks them down.
From what I’ve seen far too many TB trainers don’t recognise LTLH as a problem and/or their primary concern is getting the horse shod as cheaply as possible at all but the highest levels of this sport. Even those are frequently shod with toe grabs!
Can’t say I’ve seen LTLH as a common occurrence in Arab show horses though. What I do see a LOT of with Arabs is high-low syndrome due the prevalence of “clubby” feet (usually the right front) in this breed while the opposite foot has a low crushed heel. What often saves them is their very thick digital cushions, thick hoof walls and hard soles which are hereditary.
Many TB’s go just fine without shoes, and a good farrier…I personally know several.
Yep. The one TB with really good feet I mentioned was a rescue as a yearling. Feet (and everything else) were a mess from neglect but by the time he was 2, with regular care by a good farrier and adequate nutrition, they were darn near a perfect. By three his feet could have been on the cover of “Hoof Perfect”. Never raced, never shod, not backed until well into his third year and tada, perfectly sound - for arena work anyway. 
