LEC
Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
So many reasons diagnostics being number 1. Soundness was in the eye of the beholder. We are obsessed with soundness now and as with humans there are degrees. Sound enough to do the job would have been the primary interest. My personal theory is it’s also about 0-4 years old and what people do. The peder Frederickson experiment is ongoing but they have got a lot of data coming in and it will be fascinating to see the results.He will have wanted that for the firm surfaces and support.
I also think it's all very well for scientists to know the concussion forces from trotting on roads, but are they worse than the damage to ligaments and tendons from circling on arenas, especially if the arena surface isn't 100% (and how many are?).
And are fit horses less likely to injure themselves that unfit ones? And if so is it safer to get a horse properly fit with only arena work, or by trotting it on roads if that's all you have available as an alternative?
Anecdotally, I feel as if I'm hearing of a lot more horses of 6 and 7 written off with arthritis than in the days when it was routine to trot for very long stretches on roads.
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