Horses' strides

[kenwoodall]

Why do some horses look like they are racing straight-legged in the stretch?

[so.cal.fan]

If you mean horses striding out......they are the ones who are not tired or sore.
:confused:

[Skanoochies]

They`re called trotters!:D :D :D

[MV McKee]

Lots of horses do what is called "paddling", rather than bending at the knee, they throw one of their front legs (generally the right) out and around in a sort of semi-circular motion, while keeping the knee essentially unbent.
In the late 80s we had a middle level (8k is middle here) claiming mare that ran in this manner, she had no serious infirmities or confirmation flaws, and she "paddled" from the time she was first put into training. None of her 3 offspring have inherited the habit.
I don't think it is necessarily a negative, unless of course a horse suddenly does it in a race after never having exhibited that particular stride characteristic before.
Then again, perhaps this isn't what you meant when you said "straight-legged". Paddling is very obvious, and it doesn't take a trained eye to notice it.

[Observer]

Different horses have different ways of traveling. If you ever go back and look, Skip Away brought his front legs up very high, with a very dramatic bend to the knee. Others seem to be the opposite .. like Unbridled's Song .. I would always refer to him as "lazy legged" .. because he never seemed to bend his front legs at the knee .. but he certainly could run on his best day .. and I don't recall him being a "paddler." The best way to see if a horse is a "paddler" is to watch the head-on views.

[PurplePower]

Originally posted by MV McKee
Lots of horses do what is called "paddling", rather than bending at the knee, they throw one of their front legs (generally the right) out and around in a sort of semi-circular motion, while keeping the knee essentially unbent.
........Then again, perhaps this isn't what you meant when you said "straight-legged". Paddling is very obvious, and it doesn't take a trained eye to notice it. MV. The leg motion you described is actually referred to as "winging". (Paddling is a motion in which knee twists to the outside as it flexes causing the lower part of the front leg and foot to give the impression of a swimmer bringing an arm out of the water with a "wrist flip") The most classic case of Winging I have seen was a stakes winning filly named "Helicopter" that raced in Louisiana. She got her name because her leg (I'm thinking it was her left, but may be mistaken) movement looked like that of a rotor.

A horse with a bad knee will "stiff leg it". Fatigue will cause a horse to shorten stride and look "stiff legged". Quarter horses are bred for short, quick bursts of speed and many of them have a "stiff legged" stride as they "scoot" 250-300 yards. Most of those still legged ones are not as effective at distances beyond 330-350 yards, however.

[kenwoodall]

Sounds like I need to learn what several leg actions mean! I am hoping I will be able to tell if a horse will be limited physically or performance-wise, in some way, next time out! Thank you!
Purple power! A retied jockey, JL Brooks, says all trainers and all jockeys know the track speed (depth) and bias immediately. Is that tue? I was thinking maybe depth of track and stride can be used together for handicapping.

[PurplePower]

Originally posted by kenwoodall
.....
Purple power! A retied jockey, JL Brooks, says all trainers and all jockeys know the track speed (depth) and bias immediately. Is that tue? I was thinking maybe depth of track and stride can be used together for handicapping. Nope. Most trainers I know don't have a clue about track speed and bias. Jockeys have a "feel" for the track because they are out there galloping on it in the mornings and they can feel the difference when going from hard to soft portions and back again. They can tell that there is a "hard tractor tire path five feet off the rail" and try to put their horse on that path for best advantage. "Jack" may have known the "bias" immediately, but my experience is that when jockey and trainer start trying to "compensate for a track bias" (or pace scenario) they screw up the horse more times than they win a race because of that compensation. They can tell which horses like different kind of going because of the way they move over the ground. When a horse doesn't like the surface (or the balance of the rider) that horse will shorten its stride to compensate for uncomfortable feeling. Trainers love to blame their runners' failures on "track bias" - even when a fledgling handicapper could have told that trainer that his runner was ten lengths slower than the top three contenders.
At SHRP last night Juan Vasquez was my interviewee. He was beaten a long nose in a 400 yard Derby after a 350 yard side-by-side, shoulder to shoulder duel with eventual winner. "He knocked into me pretty hard (replay showed rear end being "scooted" - Reid) but my horse righted and took off and I thought I could beat him. That was a good horse that beat me (4-3-0 from 7 starts this year - Reid), but, damn it I thought I was going to beat him" I like interviewing Juan.