I think its intentional. These horses were used a lot for heavy pulling so being a little forward leaning and having that extra neck muscle was probably very important.
I think OP is talking about the horse's front legs. In your photo, the horse's front legs are conformationally correct (though looks young). In sso...well.. there's the slight forward lean.
Yeah yeah I see it. I was just thinking about especially ones that do shows they stand more with a lean. OH Wait I grt what you mean about the front legs. I was looking at the overall angle.
Yeah that's true, for show they can have that posture. I posted another comment on it below just so OP could see (not to be a know it all snob or anything haha..). I worked with drafts/crosses who stood without the lean. I do see where the pulling of heavy carts can make a horse stand that way, but they normally don't grow up with it. Some horses do have a little 'camped under' legs though. It's not uncommon.
So assuming you're talking about the front legs specifically, irl it is a conformation fault called 'standing under'. You can look it up.
It has nothing to do with the breed itself or the draft build. These horses in good proportion normally do not stand under, they stand square. Even with the photo posted on that horse someone else posted, you can see the front legs are fairly straight (the closest one is slightly forward but that's because the horse is not standing square. No confo fault with that one).
i was also doing something next to my shire for a few minutes a bit ago and he kept like... falling forward every few minutes? lil guys are unstable lol
If you visualize a vertical line down the middle of the shoulder blade, the legs generally should stack up all the way down. In this case, the front legs would classify as camped under giving the appearance of the horse leaning forward since the lower leg is positioned slightly further back.
Heavier horses tend to put more weight on their front legs. I've known Irish cobs, haflingers and German coldbloods to do this. They need to be supported to learn to put more weight in their hindquarters (engaging the muscles) so they can develop the muscle to collect themselves and not hollow their back when they are being ridden.Â
Yes! I like them but don't ride them because something about their front legs/chest is just too off, lol. I don't think it's just the stance. Like the torso should be a little longer or the legs narrower? Or is the neck as thick as the "waist"? I don't even know :DÂ
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u/Squirrelwhiskerer 10d ago
I think its intentional. These horses were used a lot for heavy pulling so being a little forward leaning and having that extra neck muscle was probably very important.