Gun Dog Forum

Could someone explain the purpose of chains on the front feet of gaited horses. And how it all works!! Thanks.

They cause the horses to move with the exagerated gait that is "so pleasing" in the show arena. The higher the better. Google search "Soreing". My wife explained it to me but I had to see for my self.

Jim

I believe they are used just like a keg shoe is used, to add weight to the horses feet and cure the "pace" or to cure "trot". When the use of a keg shoe alone isn't enough weight they often try to add weight by different means. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, you add weight to the front feet to cure pace and add weight to the rear feet to cure trot. Sometimes the weights are a cable with round lead weights, and sometimes a chain is the actual weight, either way, the owners are trying to change the weight to get rid of one or the other gait problems.

jimbo&rooster wrote:They cause the horses to move with the exagerated gait that is "so pleasing" in the show arena. The higher the better. Google search "Soreing". My wife explained it to me but I had to see for my self.

Jim

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Never had gaited horses but used weight to make the horse pick his feet up higher. We used it on standard breds that we showed.

Ezzy

tn red wrote:

jimbo&rooster wrote:They cause the horses to move with the exagerated gait that is "so pleasing" in the show arena. The higher the better. Google search "Soreing". My wife explained it to me but I had to see for my self.

Jim

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

If im wrong, and I would prefer to be this time, Im fine with that. But when I asked the same question of my Wife, her father and their horse trainer, that was the explanation that they gave me. I understand that it can be a corrective measure but its my understanding that it is used as a little more than that with gaited horses.

Happy to be wrong.

Jim

Chains CAN be a training tool...a way to break up a pace or trot, and to add a little weight to the legs to create more action, a higher step. They are not always related to soring, and some reputable trainers use chains to solve gait issues. Chemically burning a horse's legs, with or without chains = soring and, although outlawed, still goes on.

Jimbo a 6 oz chain is legal to show in ,in no way does a chain or roller = sore .HSUS has 10,000.00 reward for proof of soring so if you know for a fact its goin on in the show ring you should give them a call.All show horses are inspected by the USDA or HIO before entering the ring but the HSUS & FOSH flood the internet with a bunch of bs to pad their pockets with money from folks that buy into hype.
Here are some other things ive saw over the years
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pheasant_stocking/
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/contest_kills/ (NSTRA & AKC)
http://www.peta.org/living/companion-an ... llars.aspx

There is no reason to sore a 250,000.00 animal most cases of soring are jack legg trainers trying to make chicken salad out of chicken s##%t

Tn red. I smell what you are steppin in. My father in law and the trainer they deal with have been showing horses for 30+ years each and have seen some things. Neither of them have any experience with gaited horses until I picked up my TWH a few months ago.
So that said I guess I had my moment of being "that guy" on the internet.

Jim

I prefer a naturally gaited smooth horse. Too bad you gotta rig stuff to it to make it do what we like.

Just sayin.

Justin

I have owned and showed walking horses. I showed "lite shod" and not "built up" but was still around many barns in Tn. / Kentucky that train all types of gaited horses, and I have riden them all. Yes, I am aware of those that "sored" horses, used chains as action devices etc.
Having said that, I would add that, IMO, we don't want to get too smug on the forum about horse training methods. It is pretty much an acceptable practice to shock a dog that is running too big to make them come in, shock them to make them come to us, shock them to make them whoa, etc. We may change the words from "shock" to some other less offending word, but it is the same feeling to the dog. Yes, there are lower levels of stimulation, like there are lighter chains.
I , in no way, support soreing horses. It is just plain wrong. But we need to remember what we do in the name of training as well.

JMO

Karen wrote:Chains CAN be a training tool...a way to break up a pace or trot, and to add a little weight to the legs to create more action, a higher step. They are not always related to soring, and some reputable trainers use chains to solve gait issues. Chemically burning a horse's legs, with or without chains = soring and, although outlawed, still goes on.

+1

Im not trying to make enimies here but how many have been to a TWH show in the past 10 years? Funny everybody trashs the buildup horses we had a show this past weekend 800 horses over 3 nights, 1 horse turned down a flatshod horse.There was 4 federal inspecters 3 fed marshals countless THP & county sheriff all for one horse with a callous.Another question why are gaited horses the only ones inspected by the USDA?No (big lick) trainer has ever been covected in federal court for soring a horse.........This went from what do chains do to chains =sore thats bs

+1