conformation

[foalstory]

Totally weird question for you all

Comments

[siobheanne]

Yes! I once remarked to my sister and her friend of a girl we were following down the sidewalk, "Her conformation is terrible. She is not breeding quality stock." They thought that was just hilarious... I thought it was common sense!

[foalstory]

oh thank god! I'm glad I'm not the only one who suddenly has rude judgement calls to make on people because of the way they walk/run! *laugh*

[blauereiterin]

i do it too :P esp bc i am NOT conformationally breeding stock (damn good thing i'll never be bred :P) as i am severely toed out. i have ortho type running shoes that if i don't use, i get debilitating shin splints. i do want to try those barefoot toe shoes or whatever the hell they are, but mario says he won't be seen in public with me if i'm wearing them XP

[normandy_shores]

Lol, I totally judge goofy runners!

As for corrective shoes... Saw a show recently about why the Ethiopians kick everyone's asses. By being barefoot and doing farm work and covering great distances barefoot, their feet and lower legs are so strong, and they run with good form because you wouldn't heel strike barefoot. This is why the barefoot trend is so popular. Obviously won't work for everyone, but considering our culture puts shoes on us before we can walk, our feet never develop that way.

For years I ran in old shitty worn out adidas with no support. Coincidence that the season after I switch to a mild stability proper running shoe I found myself injured and heel striking? After I rehab (lots of barefoot properioception and balance work plus deep muscle acupuncture and massage) I'll be moving back to a transitional shoe (not straight to barefoot or pure minimalist, but somewhere between that and 14mm heel I have now, haha)

[foalstory]

yup, I've read a few articles about the barefoot trend and why it works... makes sense! we DO 'grow up' in shoes and always having a natural padding that isn't necessarily 'natural'. when I started running a few months ago, I found myself heel-striking at first, so I adjusted to NOT do that and that's become my natural stride. It might not be as 'open' or as 'fast', but hopefully it will keep me operational (aka "Sound" and not lame!) longer :D

it's interesting to see how much biomechanical and health stuff from horses bleeds into 'human' life.

[melodiousaphony]

I was going to throw in here somewhere that one can train to overcome some conformation by strengthening the proper muscles and changing muscle memory. At least, that is some of my experience with horses. It only goes so far, but it's something.

[dressagedreams]

I think another issue is that a lot of people have problems that could be corrected with support that they aren't aware of. Yes barefoot is good but only if you start off with the appropriate structure to begin with. I have mega orthotics that go up past the ankle because the structure of my feet really stinks, I have no arch and a collapsing ankle. Because I have such bad feet I can always tell when other people have similar issues. I don't wear my orthotics all the time but if I were to walk or run a lot I would have to wear them otherwise the whole foot hurts and I have a hard time standing let alone walking/running.

All that to say, yes I watch other people too. I haven't quite made it over to using horse terms but I'm definitely more aware from my horse experience.

[damiri]

I totally do that all the time. I've discovered that there are very few people who would pass an equine type soundness test.
Uneven stride, lurching from side to side, toeing out, fallen arches (bad angles), the list goes on and on.
Kinda sad, really.

[harnessphoto]

I totally do that. It's also why I don't run unless it's dark out.