XLIII. PULLING ON ONE LINE AT SPEED.
I was approached on this subject and had it explained to me that a certain horse going the right way of the track at speed would go on one line and keep going into the fence or hugging the pole, and would make two or three breaks going the length of the stretch on a half-mile track, and could not be kept away from the fence. After an examination of the teeth, cheeks, and tongue, and bit, and finding these to be all O. K., I concluded that it must be from uneven extension of the legs. The extension and propelling power of the off legs was greater than that of the nigh ones. A three-ounce toe weight on the feet of the nigh legs straightened or balanced up the lost action of the nigh side so that the horse would speed the length of the stretch in any position on the track without pulling on one line and so the necessity for pulling on one line to keep the horse straight was stopped.
The feet on this animal were well fixed hind and front, as to length of toes and angle of feet, the hind shoes weighed alike and the front ones also. The muscular development of the extension power of the off legs was stronger than that of the nigh legs, perhaps also the propelling power of the off hind leg. This is the reason the horse was pulling on one line. The off legs were reaching farther than the nigh ones, which kept forcing the horse to go towards the fence. Unbalanced feet will cause this as well as undeveloped muscles. I have no doubt but there are lots of horses going on one line and hugging the pole that need a change in the angle of the feet, or the proper weight at the proper place to balance up matters. If the strides of this horse had been measured there would have been found a big difference between the off and nigh strides, so you see it is not always the teeth, cheeks, or bit that cause this trouble. The horse in question later stepped miles in 2:09.