Trot Issues

Question
I am training a large Quarter Horse (big boned) in the discipline dressage.  He's doing well except he is coming back from some minor lameness (rough-housing in pasture) and he is now hitting his front foot with his back foot with his back foot toe hitting under the front heal.  Why is he doing this all of a sudden?  It is a rhythmic clicking especially at the trot.

Answer
Dear Debbie:
My apologies for the tardiness of this reply- work has been crazy. Anyway, what you describe is called interfering, forging or overstriding- they all mean the same thing. The question of course is: why now? How old is your horse? Could he have experienced a growth spurt? This problem is fairly common in short backed long legged animals. Once you have checked with your vet and ruled out anything physical beyond conformation, ask your farrier to rocker or roll the toe of his front shoes and take back his hind toes a bit. In the meantime- use bell boots for heel protection.
Best wishes,
S. Evans