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You're talking about two different things here,
Howard. The zig-zagging downhill that you've heard is a "good thing"
refers to making switchbacks instead of just doing a Man From Snowy River number
straight off the side. The horse's body should still be straight with
himself, but the PATH that he takes is a zig-zag.
What folks are worried about here is that the horse is
bending his back into a zig-zag (side to side) when going downhill--and
folks are right who are saying that horses who do this are avoiding pain
somewhere. It may well be an ill-fitting saddle that pinches, but it can
also be due to the fact that the horse has inadequate back strength due to poor
conformation of his back and loin, making it painful or impossible for him to
round to carry weight, so going downhill he literally has nowhere he can put his
rear end that doesn't hurt, except off to one side or the other. The third
problem can be hind leg (particularly hock) pathology--but that usually arises
from poor back conformation and inability to properly engage as
well.
Heidi
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 6:43
PM
Subject: Re: [RC] Trouble going down
hills
I would love for those mountain riders to chime in on this one, because
I was told at Leatherwood that this is a good thing for the horse to do
when going down a steep incline. Kind of like a snow
skier zig-zaggin his way down the mountain.
Since I've lived in Florida for over 20 years now, my knowledge of
mountains is about as vast as my knowledge on political correctness.
Phil, you still on Ridecamp? Didn't you tell me this was a good thing
for the horse to do as we went down the side of that cliff together?
Lisa, you seemed to spend forever going up and down those mountains, what do
you think?
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