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Laney Humphrey wrote:

> Horses will choose to canter/lope/run instead of trot partly because 
> they can synchronize their breathing with the movement of the gait.  
> So, a horse that isn't quite fit enough will choose to "run" up a hill 
> because it is easier.  Some people say that "running" up a hill puts 
> tremendous strain on the suspensory ligaments and that it is better to 
> trot/gait up and canter/run down.
> Laney
I'd say cantering down hills - especially if the footing was soft and 
sandy would be much harder on the suspensory than up hills for no other 
reason that the front end falls farther (distance to the ground and 
hence more energy to absorb) on a downhill slope than an up hill slope.  
In deep footing - particularly fine sand - many times it is much easier 
to canter - where the horse gets up and out of the footing rather than 
trot (or even walk) where the horse has to slug through it. I think it 
is really dependent on many factors.

On all my conditioning rides I gallop the uphills and walk down the 
downhills to recover. Of course my horse is older and used to it. 
Sometimes at rides he will prefer to canter a hill over trotting it and 
normally he knows what he is doing so I let him make the decision.

Truman

--

"A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems."

- Paul Erdos (1913-1996)




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