Leonard - what great comments! How educational to see ourselves from another viewpoint. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's comments, as you raised several subjects.
I was especially interested in your comments on pacing, "Pacing : some were rushing at extended trot then walking... I didn't understand that. Why not keeping a gentle trot (10..12Kph) without stopping for a walk. This seems not to enhance endurance capabilities of the horse, even if it is young."
I still remember the first time I followed a friend who trotted for 45 minutes without ever once dropping into a walk. What an eyeopener!
I have a girlfriend who just took my experienced horse on her first 50. What I have noticed on our training rides is that she gets tired of the trotting. We're working on her riding abilities, and her strength is gradually increasing, but I still have to push her. "Let's trot for 20 minutes before walking." Next time: "Let's trot for 25 minutes before walking." Of course, it doesn't help that my experienced horse (note I said he was an experienced horse - not a particularly good one, even if he does have 1,250 miles!) doesn't have a good "working" trot when in a competition but insists on throwing all his energy away with his extended trot. (One of the problems we have with him.) Anyway, my point is that it may be the rider, not the horse, who doesn't have the conditioning for long trots.
Anyone else have comments?
Robin (in Petaluma, as opposed to the other Robins out there!)
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