Equine Motion Question

[Pouches Rock]

Hi, I have a question about paddling in horses. I saw a horse that did this for the first time a few months ago at event I attended. I had wasn't sure what was going on and asked if it was trained to step like that and someone told me that no it was just that some horses naturally moved in that manner.

I did a quick internet search about the topic and all of the sources claimed that is was a conformational problem and could be corrected depending on the source.

My question is paddling ever a good thing? Does anyone try to train a horse to make this motion and is it always detrimental to the horses health?

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[lissette10]

What do you mean by paddling? Are you talking about the gait Tennessee Walkers and Paso Fino's do?

 

[mbv]

Paddling is a gait aberration that stems from a conformational problem and it is not desirable. Usually horses that paddle have toe-in conformation See: http://www.gaitedhorses.net/ConformationLesson/FrontEnds/ToeIn.gif to see how that ends up happening). While paddling looks gross, I think it's better to have a horse that paddles than to have a horse who wings in (toe-out conformation), because at least paddlers don't whack the inside of their legs together. No matter how much knee/shoulder action is desired in a specific discipline, pretty much all horse sports are looking for animals that travel straight and true; I don't know of any disciplines that would promote paddling because a horse that paddles places uneven/increased stress on some of its joints (although there are many horse sports that are hard on the joints...). Sometimes judges never get to see horses traveling straight towards them and it's hard to detect a slight paddle while only watching the horse from the side. Therefore, a paddler could place in a class where movement is judged, but it would never give the horse bonus points! Hooves can be trimmed to promote a more even flight of the hoof.

People do a lot of weird things to horses to change their way of going but thank god people haven't started teaching them to paddle.

Here is an article about gait abnormalities & racehorse success (they cite information about soundness & gait problems): www.eqb.com/images/eqb.com/pdfs/dec-05 journal article.pdf

 

[Pouches Rock]

Paddling is a gait aberration that stems from a conformational problem and it is not desirable. Usually horses that paddle have toe-in conformation

This is pretty much what I found that it wasn't desirable...I was just confused because everyone thought that this horse looked amazing and were very complimentary. He is a very cute little arabian with a great head. It was a really pronounced paddle motion...it looked really bumpy to me.

 

[mbv]

Well with paddling, I think that you should think of the paddling motion as a symptom of a more intrinsic conformation defect in the horse that is causing a problem with the locomotion. If the horse is swinging his legs like that, his foot isn't going to be landing flat and absorbing shock in the most effective way (starting in the hoof), and this will end up affecting all of the joints in the leg. The severity of an individual case will really affect how "bad" it is for that horse.

I personally hate the way paddling looks, but like I said before, I would take a paddler over a horse who wings in because the paddling is much less likely to cause injury. No horse has perfect conformation for any given sport, but each conformational problem means that the horse may/will have weaknesses in those areas. Not all paddlers will develop ringbone or other concussive lameness, but it's probably more of a risk with paddlers than with a horse who travels straight (I'm having trouble finding articles online about this, but that TB article I posted references some studies about gait aberration correlated with lameness).

 

[SillyFilly]

With horses, it's never an easy answer! MBV did a great job explaining it. Remember, in horse shows, judging is placing the best of the horses IN THE CLASS on top. Paddling is a fault (if seen by the judge) and will be taken into account. That said, if the horse was still the best in the class, it could pin over the others!

Also depends on the breed. In hunters/pleasure horses, it may not be as readily visible. In Saddlebreds or a saddleseat division, you may see it a lot more because they won't move as high or square up front. And if it's in a big class where they strip the tack and jog them, it can be a lot more of a class winning deal breaker.

As for how big of an issue it is, it's totally dependent on the individual horse, how severe it is, how soon it is found, etc. Proper trims and shoeing can correct much of it, improper foot care can make it worse. But since it is caused by a conformational fault, it has bigger issues. Can depend on if the toed in-ness starts at the fetlock, or higher. You won't have (generally) as many issues as a toed out horse of the same severity.

In a stallion, it'd make me think twice about the horse for breeding purposes, depending on how his progeny look and how bad it was.

But of course, no horse is perfect - it's all a game of "how much will this effect him" roulette!

 

[Ben and Me]

When you say "event" do you mean an event (as in 3-day) or just as a synonym for a horse show?

If you were at a general horse show (likely a breed show), did you perhaps see a Peruvian Paso? It looks like they can have arab-like facial features (I've never seen one up close enough in person to tell you for sure!) http://www.paradisepasofinos.com/Peruvians.htm

That's the only example I can think of off the top of my head where extreme paddling would be desirable, especially since you mentioned that it looked extremely bumpy (they look almost like they have egg beaters for legs in the 1 or 2 times I've seen them go at a distance)...but then again, I ride hunters so any paddling is usually pretty subtle and noticed only from the front (at least in a horse that pins well--if it's blatant enough to be noticed from the side, the horse will likely be viewed as unsound).

 

[Pouches Rock]

When you say "event" do you mean an event (as in 3-day) or just as a synonym for a horse show?
quote]


It was actually at a medieval reenactment event so you walk( or up to speed with which you are comfortable) a course with activities that were used as training tools for combat on horseback. This particular event did not include jousting but there was a quintain. The activities were javelin throw, "pig" sticking, rings, reeds, heads, and archery.

Egg beaters is an apt description. The pictures of the Peruvian Paso look like the movement this horse was making. I wasn't able to find comprable pictures of horses actually making the paddling motion associated with conformation issues. I read several articles and saw a variety of figures but no photos.

This was a young stallion new to the owner perhaps they were mislead about the breed of horse they bought?

 

[lissette10]

Sounds like what you saw was a Peruvian Paso. Usually Peruvian Paso's are not mistaken for Arab's though. The difference is seen in their heads. PP's have bigger, heavier heads and Arab's have fine, delicate, elegant heads. Also, despite looking very bumpy, the PP's gait is smooth. The good thing about the gait is that the horse can travel long distances without tiring as much as it would at a lope or gallop and is comfortable for both horse and rider.
This link has a video of a Peruvian Paso: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0hSgC8_XFFE
Here are some good pics straight on: http://www.pphrna.org/aboutbrd.htm

 

[Ben and Me]

Agreed lissette...

One of the websites I looked at had a picture of a mare and foal at the bottom, and the mare did have a traditionally arab face--but who knows if she was actually a peruvian paso!

After looking at pictures, most of them do have "larger" heads--but a lot do have the traditionally-Arabian small, pointed ears, so perhaps that's where the confusion arose? Check out the ears on some of these horses... http://www.coyotecreekperuvian.com/faqs.htm
Then again, maybe their ears just look small in comparison to their larger heads?

They also look like they fall in the same size-range as Arabians.

I could see how the OP could have been misled, but to be misled about the breed of stallion that you're buying? Eek! If that's the case, lets hope someone informs this family before they start breeding! And if they weren't misled, and ended up with an Arabian that moves like that..... 😱