4 replies to this topic

[sdlarabians]

When a horse is described as flat kneed, what does that mean? What does this action look like?

Thanks!

[JacqueB]

I'm going to take a stab at this. When I was considering getting into hunter ponies, I talked to a long time pony/hunter trainer & he said that the horses that win in the hunter ring have very flat kneed movement - the front leg moves from the shoulder straight out, no bend at the knee, he also referred to it as "daisy cutter" movement because the hooves stay just above the ground to "clip" daisies. So not alot of suspension necessarily like a dressage horse & no break at the knee action like a saddlebred/morgan or park/country pleasure type horse.
Flat kneed movement is the desired movement for the general hunter community, don't know about Arab hunters but would be very disappointing to the park/english pleasure community.

[VanAlma]

...
Flat kneed movement is the desired movement for the general hunter community, don't know about Arab hunters but would be very disappointing to the park/english pleasure community.

The current trend is growing long toes and weighting hunters for action. The Arab community as a whole does not know what a hunter really looks like.

[ponygirl]

I think they are refering to a horse that strides out and is very forward moving. Look at the long, forward strides of a dressage horse in an extended trot.

[sdlarabians]

Thanks for the replies. This helps a lot.