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

> You said in an earlier post that there are no
> concussion injuries for riders from riding. Having
> never been to an endurance ride I'm just guessing here
> that most of y'all sit the trot at some point of the
> ride? That puts considerable concussion on your back,
> hips, knees, and ankles. Posting trot? Repetitive
> motion injuries of the knees. 2 point? Concussion on
> the knees.

Mostly posting, which is a passive repetitive motion, and hence should not
stress knees if done properly.  In 30 years and 5400 miles of AERC
competition (never mind the 600 CTR miles I rode as a kid), the only time
I've suffered knee problems was when I had already eroded the cartilage in
one knee riding an ATV.  I had to quit riding until it healed--but the
riding darn sure didn't cause the injury.

> For my years as a H/J and Dressage rider I rode with a
> neurologist's wife and worked around their farm with
> him. According to him there was considerable
> concussion on the knees, ankles, hip, and back from
> dressage work. H/J flatwork was less concussion.

Yes, for the rider, dressage can be pretty intense.

> >The recent post from Ms. Caldwell is the first time
> >I've ever heard someone suggest that early riding was
> >damaging--and I notice that she was doing more
> intense
> > equine sports than endurance.
>
> More intense? From some of the stories I've heard, and
> the four or five months of training I've put in on my
> horse my H/J and dressage days were a walk in the park
> compared to Endurance.

For the horse, yes.  For the rider--nope, 50 miles is WAY easier than an
hour in the dressage ring.  My husband is a former long-time H/J
participant--and quit that because of injury and took up endurance instead
because it was so much easier on his body.

Heidi


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