One of the things that I avoid in a horse is lax hind pasterns. It seems to be being bred into modern dressage horses especially those with big walks. If I see a horse whose hind fetlocks touch the ground on every step in walk I run in the opposite direction. I have seen it in several very talented dressage horses and all of them have been plagued with lameness problems. Several have had the talent to reach GP but none that I know of have made it. It worries me that the mechanics of this movement appears to be sought after.
Something else that backs up my theory that this is weak mechanics that selects against high level performance is that I see it an awful lot in young horse classes and never see it in GP classes. But haven’t we all said many times that breeding for a flashy youngster that will sell easily is very different from breeding to keep or breeding for a future grand prix horse?
