A characterization of short curves of a Teichmuller geodesic

We provide a combinatorial condition characterizing curves that are short along a Teichmuller 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 x R are also short in the corresponding Teichmuller geodesic, and we provide examples demonstrating that the converse is not true.