Plaiting - leg confirmation fault

Katd66

Katd66

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Went to see a pony at the weekend which plaits in front in walk and a little in trot.

He is a fine pony but his legs didnt seem to be coming from same point in 'middle of his check'

What are your thoughts on this?

He is 7yo 13.2hh done a bit of everything - hunting, pc, jumping.

He will be doing PC and hacking if we have him.

His legs feel clean but his front feet could do with a good farrier! Shod infront, bare behind.

We are going back Wednesday night to have another look as everything else about the pony is perfect but just wanted to take some advice/thoughts with us about the plaiting.
 
I have two that plait, one in front and one behind. The in front one is a little pocket rocket that tries her hand at everything including being placed highly showing both in hand and ridden, has never affected her in any way at all and her feets are perfect little brumbie feets.

The one who plaits behind is a tad more difficult and presently has back problems combined with poorly shaped feet as he doesn't load them evenly.

Wouldn't put me off buying at all although would prefer front leg plaiting to back legs!
 
my driving cob plaits in front weve never had any trouble with his legs at all and hes 15 now and never been lame when shod he wears boots in front just for my piece of mind but he probably doesnt really need them
when bare foot he goes without
 
I would not buy a plaiter and I am banjaxed that a plaiting horse can be well placed in any show, local or whatever.

I think it would be far too easy for a horse that plaits to get its legs in a knot when doing fast work/jumping and far too easy for it to damage itself.

But then again, I have no experience of whether they do or not because I find the movement so unattractive that I would not even get on one if I turned up to try it and it plaited in front.

Plaiting behind is a symptom of bone spavin, so I wouldn't touch one of those either, as I don't have vettings and I wouldn't take the risk.
 
My instructor commented that my pony did it behind when we turned up to try her. She passed the vet so we bought her anyway.
She brushes slightly behind but it's not really a problem - she wears boots for schooling and jumping, can go without for dressage.
cptrayes - she does indeed have spavin but only just got it this year at 21 which I don't think is too bad. I've had her 12 years and we've done all the normal types of things you would do with an all rounder. She's still in pretty hard work as the spavins have been treated so in my opinion the plaiting has never been an issue.
OP - if the pony is what you're looking for and passes the vet - go for it, in my opinion. Good luck!
 
My old lad plaits behind, I would say reasonably badly. He is long backed as well so not the best combination.

However, it never hindered his jumping (if only something could have slowed him down :cool:) but obviously as he went up the levels in his flatwork it had to be factored in. Due to long back and plaiting he had a naturally stuffy walk and not as fast a top speed as you might expect from his determined nature. He is now 36 and still sound and clean legged so it would not put me off another one.

Now I did jump a horse that had both legs appearing to come out of the same hole :o, in fact he looked like he was made up entirely from spare parts. He jumped absolutely everything and was so fast :eek: The last I heard of him was he was still sound well into his twenties.
 
Another thought about what to look for - take a look at his coronary band, see how much hair is rubbed off, that will tell you how bad the plaiting is.

As the horse tires the plaiting gets worse, as you might expect!
 
I have a 15.3hh sports horse that plaits terribly, really obvious in the walk.

It doesnt bother me, and it doesnt bother him, he always wears boots but he is fabulously expressive and a true dressage star, i personally feel that the plaiting makes him more expressive, he is always completely sound, never ever goes lame (touch wood) and i totally dont mind, if it is the right horse it would not top me from buying another that plaits
 
I came a right cropper jumping a front leg plaiter years ago. He tripped himself up and rolled over me. Then again, I've had a pony that plaited just one front - I guess you'd call it dishing, rather than plaiting - and she was as sure footed as they come.

So - it very much depends on the degree of plaiting, and how one leg affects the other.
 
Can we clarify whether we are all talking about the same thing??

A plaiter crosses one foot over in front of the other foot so that when it comes to the ground it is either in front of, or over the other side of, the opposite foot. It would be a severely compromised horse who managed to throw the foot out in an arc (dish) and then plait as well - I certainly wouldn't buy that one :) !!!
 
I almost bought a horse who plaited his hind legs but my vet advised against it, due to the abnormal load. I still went ahead and had the x-rays as he was super in every other department, but in the x-rays we could already see signs of arthritic changes in his hocks, and he was just 6 years old. He was 17hh, so much larger than your pony, so perhaps the pony would not suffer the consequences so quickly. You should discuss it with your vet.
 
cptrayes said:
Can we clarify whether we are all talking about the same thing??

A plaiter crosses one foot over in front of the other foot so that when it comes to the ground it is either in front of, or over the other side of, the opposite foot. It would be a severely compromised horse who managed to throw the foot out in an arc (dish) and then plait as well - I certainly wouldn't buy that one :) !!!
Click to expand...

Yes, crossing one foot in front of the other. The feet are landing in the same line not over the other leg (if that makes sense!)
 
Personally,I don't mind plaiting in front if the pony moves well and has a good front. It does often seem to go with more extravagant movers and judges don't seem to penalize it so much either.
I have always avoided anything that dishes, though.
 
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