What factors affect a horses ability to cope well with soft or heavy going?

Question

I'm guessing, but I would think the exact nature of the horses stride is a factor. A horse that extends its reach more and maybe has more suppleness in its back and shoulder might effectively leap forward with each stride. Presumable this means the back hooves will dig more deeply into the turf. Another horse with shorter stride might be as fast because it goes through one whole cycle of movement quicker. Such a horse would effectively be mincing along (forgive my non tech language). As such it might not dig its hooves in so deeply with each push off that it makes with its back hooves. Again, I'm guessing, but I would think the horse that minces along is less likely to be affected detrimentally by soft turf. For the same reason a small horse would tend to cope better with soft ground than a big horse. Thanks for your comments so far, what do you think of these further observations?

Answer 1

Hoof size yes is a factor, but also the way the jockey rides. If he rides forward or rides back.. a trainer once told me he want his good horse saddled back and ridden back by the top jockeys and when h wanted to win big he rode the apprentice who rode on the shoulders.

Answer 2

There is a theory that horses with large, round hooves can gallop more effectively on mud. The idea is that larger hooves don't sink into the mud as far as hooves that are small and deer-like and therefore the round hoofed horse does not get as tired. I don't know that there have ever been controlled studies on this, though. Some horses seem to like hard ground and others do seem to like softer going while some horses will run on anything. It may just be that horses have their individual preferences like we do. Some horses like to '"hear their hooves rattle" on a fast track and others, especially those that are older or maybe have minor soreness like softer going. Mud caulks can be inserted into the shoes on wet days to give a better gip which can make a difference.