Re: [RC] [RC] Causes of Suspensory Injuries - Barbara McCrary
I've ridden only a couple of horses since
the last one that injured his suspensory, so I don't feel that's a good enough
test. But I would say, yes. Neither of my two succeeding horses have
a huge trot, or at least I don't encourage it, so no more injuries. As for
your horse, if he is more efficient at a canter than a bigger trot, I would be
inclined to use that efficiency. My husband had one horse that was far
more efficient at the canter than at the trot, and he cantered the last 25 miles
of a relatively flat 50-miler in fine style. I think he had another one
that was similar, but I couldn't keep up with him, so I really don't know the
pace he set and at what gait. :-))
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] Causes of
Suspensory Injuries
But then were you able to stop getting
suspensory injuries when you changed that? Its funny cause I've been trying to
get a bigger trot out of my younger horse. He does prefer his canter/lope to a
bigger trot and his heart rate does go down in the canter.
-------Karla Watson
In my experiences, absolutely! I have ridden
4 Arabs that all developed injured suspensories. I began to wonder
why...all were my horses, so I wondered what I was doing wrong. I
came to realize that because I loved a very fast extended trot, I
encouraged that in all these horses. Common denominator,
hyper-extension. I stopped riding that way and stopped looking for
horses with a big trot. A very painful lesson......those were all very
good horses, and I ruined them by my ignorance. But at least I
learned.....
