Ridecamp: Re: [RC] there is no way that young and small a body can ride astride a horse that many hours without damage

> Absolutely, it's wonderful.  Tell me, how many times has she ridden 50
> or 100 miles at a time?

It's all relative.  For a child who can barely drag her own body around, an
hour's ride is as significant as a much longer ride would be for a normal
child.  The point here is that the horseback riding is sufficiently
physically relaxing for her that it frees her from the constraints of her
barely useful body.  If a child who can barely function physically can ride
for an hour and beg for more, why can't a normal child ride for 8 or 12 or
more hours?

> On the outside, no.  Have you x-rayed them or taken an MRI?

Have YOU?  Just as with our horses, fatigue presages injury.  These kids
don't even exhibit fatigue for the most part.

> You could anesthitize them and the physical stresses would still be
> there.  They'd be better off racing up front, they wouldn't be on the
> horse as many hours.

I disagree--it isn't the hours that cause damage, it's the physical stress
of the speed.  Same thing with young horses.  There is far more physical
exertion and tension in being a front runner, even for less hours, than
there is in just riding along in the pack.

> Contact sports have greater intensity, endurance rides have greater
> duration.  In the stresses I'm talking about, it's the duration that
> does the damage.

And it is the intensity that injures.  That's been borne out in many
disciplines.

> No saddle can compensate for children the size of five and six year
> olds.

I beg to differ--properly built children's saddles are indeed built to fit
their bodies.

Heidi


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