Re: [RC] Trouble going down hills - RBluebirdpr
In a message dated 09/18/2002 8:42:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time, howard9732@xxxxxxx writes:
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?
Yes, Howard I did tell you this and yes this is the way I teach all my horses that don't know how to use their rear ends. When I first started doing endurance my horses had never been on mountainous trails and would put all their weight on their front end which with me being a heavy weight was not good. The woman that taught me all about endurance, also a heavyweight rider, said this is where a lot of riders make mistakes by running or trotting down hills. Puts a lot of stress on the front end of the horses and I think she was right. In hilly rides we would get passed by riders running on the down hills but would later pass them either after they were pulled for lameness or stressed horses. At Leatherwood anyone that runs or trots down these "hills" are nuts anyway. I agree that the natural path for a horse is straight but not when you have 225 pounds on your back going down a steep grade and I like brakes which is why I teach my horses how to use their rear end with zig zagging being the tool.&n
bsp; Take care.
Phil
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