Letters toWT
Sickle Hock Conformation? [Judy Wardrope, our Conformation Corner columnist, responds to a letter she received expressing concern that the dressage horse Ravel appears to be sickle hocked and that he does not move as well behind as he does up front. Her analysis of Ravel ran in our May/June 2010 edition.] I have never considered slight sickle hocks as the
raving fault that many others do. I'm more concerned with why they appear to be sickle hocked. If they have a short femur and long rear cannon it is a lot different from a functional perspective than if they have a long tibia. Ravel has a long tibia (stifle to hock) compared to some, which means the horse will usually stand with a slight sickle hock appearance or bent hock look. In my myriad of photos of Ravel at the Olympics and
the’ 09 World Cup Final plus some video clips, there is ample movement behind. . .in fact, much more than many others. As to the capped hock appearance, I wonder if that
isn't an optical illusion caused by the extra bend in the hock. I certainly do not recall seeing any puffiness at the jog for either of those two events, and I have a critical eye for such things. . .that's why I go to the jogs. Pictured here is his closing halt/salute and he's standing in a typical conformation stance instead of the square halt in the article. I think you can see the length of the tibia in this shot and can see that he doesn't stand under near as much as in the published photo. Such are the limitations of photos, especially when trying to get them at that level of competition.
L
Electronic Editions I have enjoyed your electronic back issues a great deal and would like very much to subscribe to your magazine, BUT my wife would disown me if I subscribed to a printed edition (due to environmental issues for her and my daughter too). Is there any chance that there is an electronic edition subscription in the future? If so, you can certainly count me in. It seems very unfair that I have gotten to enjoy all your issues through May-June 2010 without charge. I hope they will continue to be available as they become “back issues,” but doubt that my good fortune will last forever. Nonetheless, I would certainly enjoy becoming a subscriber.
Bob Aiken, Manchester, MD
Dear Bob, In the last five years, there has been a lot of new research on whether electronic media will replace printed media. In some cases, where information is concise and easily read, such as news, electronic media prevails. This is why the newspaper industry is in trouble. However, printed magazines with good interesting editorial will continue to be published and read. Computer screens are tougher on the eyes than black ink on white paper. A magazine is easy to carry around and in our case, beautiful to look at with fairly lengthy articles. Publishers have had little success releasing only
Judy Wardrope
an electronic version of a magazine. The majority of people—there are exceptions—won’t take the time to read through a 100-page magazine on a computer screen. So the buzz in the industry is to provide both: the printed edition and the online edition. At this time, we are posting the editions of Warmbloods Today online for free well after each edition has been circulated. We invite people to see the quality of the magazine and its articles on the computer screen, and we can only hope that it ultimately entices them to buy a subscription for a printed copy. Having the issue online will also increase exposure for our advertisers. Without them, we wouldn’t be here. If we decide to start charging for the electronic versions, you’ll be the first person we’ll contact! Thanks for your suggestion. In the meantime, enjoy.
Editor, Liz Cornell 10 September/October 2010
L
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