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RE: [RC] Racing - heidiThey can stop pretty quickly - I have one that can do a 180 before you can blink - but that's not from a gallop. It's fairly simple matter of physics - most of the weight is up in the body, and you raise the center of gravity even higher (if you stay on). The horse can only stop so fast without flipping over the front. Same reason you can't stop your car instantly, even with ABS brakes - only so much force that the horse's feet can apply to the ground without the ground giving way, or the shoes slipping on the ground. Although there is still the matter of mass moving through space, keep in mind that stopping a horse is NOT like stopping a rigid structure like a car. A horse has a flexible spine and lots of soft tissue "shock absorbers" that a car does not have--and can drive his rear end forward up underneath him and take up most of that "impact" quite readily. A horse--even one going full out (or PARTICULARLY one going full out)--cannot be stopped by sawing on his front end. That's like trying to stop a fast bicycle with only the front brakes. <g> A quick stop is accomplished by actively driving the hind legs even further underneath the horse with your legs and by shifting your own weight back and down into the saddle. I think part of the issue here is that too many riders don't KNOW how to stop a horse going full out, and have not trained their horses to be more adept at it. At any rate, no, a stopping horse should NOT have any tendency at all to flip over forward--instead, if anything, he might end up with his front end coming up off the ground as his HIND legs drive forward. All of the impulsion that makes him go fast in the first place COMES from the drive in those rear legs... Heidi ============================================================ Why should I look good if I don`t smell good? ~ author unknown ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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