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Extended Trot
Have given this some thought (ie engage brain
before opening mouth) and perhaps there is a danger in confusing fast trot with
extended trot as they're not the same at all, as anyone who has ridden dressage
will know.
In a fast trot the horse will generally but not
always be bowling along as fast as possible with his weight on his
forehand. There is speed involved.
In extended trot "the outlined is lengthened to
maximum without loss of balance" to quote Jennie Loriston Clarke in her Complete
Guide to Dressage. She makes no mention of speed. In fact the horse
covers more ground because of the lengthened stride in extended trot but
theoretically goes little faster than a horse in medium or working trot.
In fact one of the classic ways to try and cover up the fact that a horse in
supposedly extended trot which is not engaging its hocks correctly is to speed
up the movement a bit, although most good dressage judges can see the
difference.
Whats known as the "Russian trot" in arabians of
these blood-lines could be more likened to a collected trot (I know I'm going to
contradict myself here) with a lot of suspension but not a lot of forward
movement. It looks impressive in halter but is very difficult to sit in
to. Perhaps this what Donna Snyder Smith meant when she was comparing
Bette's stallion's movement to a warmblood's.
With my russian mare when she was in her "big" trot
she was actually going nowhere. When she extended she lengthened her
outline, flattened, and became more comfortable to post to and she started going
forward.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that extended
trot is perhaps less useful in endurance than a fast trot because of the speed
angle, but both will still long-term tire the joints.
Heather
SW France
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