Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

It depends on how the horse is built. For a horse who is built like Pine Island, if she puts her head up in the air, it will shorten her stride because it hollows out her back. A low head carriage doesn't necessarily equate to a longer stride. Length of stride depends on their motor (hock and hip), length of the back, and their shoulder angle. I like Thoroughbreds who hold there heads slightly above their withers while running like Afleet Alex and Bernardini. I personally do not like how Pine Island runs or how she is built. I hold my breath everytime I watch her run and thank God that she makes it off the track. Horses that are built like her are prime candidates for serious breakdowns and soundness issues. She has too much weight on her front end and is built too downhill for me. Her neck sets in too low into her chest. Most horses naturally carry around 60% of their weight on their front end. Well, Pine Island definitely carries more than that. She is a very big mare too. It scares me. I love her though, and think that she is very brillant. I hope to God I am wrong about her, but I would give her a good chance of having serious soundness problems. One thing going for her is that she is a grinder and she runs about the same pace throughout the race. She doesn't have an explosive turn of foot. Although, I can't see her legs very good while she is running, she also looks to have a very good colume of bone too. These two factors may be enough to compensate for her being so heavy on her front end.