Re: RC: Up Hill or Down

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/10/00 7:02:57 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
truman.prevatt@netsrq.com writes:

<< Unless his front legs don't touch the ground in which case he is up
 running on his hinds like a bear, he will have additional energy to
 absorb with his front legs.
 
 Some horses can handle this better than others, no questions about that.
 But there is more energy to absorb by the front legs going down hill
 than on the flat. The energy has to go somewhere. >>

Yep--and it goes to the rear legs.  That's why good downhill horses virtually 
never get sore in front or get front leg injuries--but get sore as all 
get-out in the rear!  I hate to admit it, but I've overdone with some of my 
really talented downhill horses when they had the skills but hadn't had their 
fitness levels kept up--have yet to injure a front leg, but have had them so 
sore in the semimembranosus and the semitendinosus that they would literally 
wince when I grabbed them.  (Fortunately no further harm done.)  But those 
muscles in the back of the thigh are precisely where the extra stress is 
absorbed.  The loin is the other area that absorbs the energy--and it can get 
sore in a downhill horse that is not quite fit, too.

Heidi


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=