Glossary
 

Cat At The Gallop
Cat at Full Contraction

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Overreaching
1.       Hind feet land in front of the forefeet. For example, the left hind foot lands in front of where the left forefoot had previously landed.
This is a natural, unavoidable and entirely desirable aspect of many gaits (e.g. trot, canter and gallop), and is by no means necessarily a fault.
2.      When describing a faulty gait , overreaching occurs when hindquarters are stronger and more angulated than the forequarters, giving rise to an excessive reach of hind limbs relative to that of forelimbs.
In some instances, this may cause hind feet to interfere with forefeet.  Alternatively, overreaching may cause the animal to adopt undesirable compensatory action.