A characterization of short curves of a Teichmüller geodesic

We provide a combinatorial condition characterizing curves that are short along a Teichmller geodesic. This condition is closely related to the condition provided by Minsky for curves in a hyperbolic 3-manifold to be short. We show that short curves in a hyperbolic manifold homeomorphic to S R are also short in the corresponding Teichmller geodesic, and we provide examples demonstrating that the converse is not true.