Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I also have a mare that we do a lot of cantering. She canters  
probably 80% of the time. Until she pulled a groin walking down a  
hill I never had lameness issues with this 14 year old mare. She's  
now back under saddle and already wants to canter everywhere. One of  
the most wonderful horse's I've ever had look through a bridle. A  
pleasure and joy to ride and can reel off relaxed miles at a gorgeous  
canter/gallop. The lightest and easiest gallop ever. After riding the  
trot everywhere, gallop never horse for the last year, I feel like I  
got the keys back to the Ferrari. My only issue with Mosh is that you  
can't canter all the time-I always get quite the arm workout during a  
50. I firmly believe if she were made to trot all the time she would  
be unhappy and break down. If Desa had to canter and not trot she'd  
be the same. Horses are not all made alike.
My two mares have different personalities and conformation-to treat  
the the same would not be in their best interest.
Tiffany
On Apr 20, 2006, at 11:25 AM, Truman Prevatt wrote:

> My old mare had a 6 mph walk, not running walk or any other  
> intermediate gait but a honest to goodness walk. We probably  
> cantered most of what we didn't walk simply because that was her  
> most relaxed easy going gait. She would trot ( and had a pretty  
> good one)  some but we would normally only do that in transitions  
> between the walk  and canter. With a walk at that speed and a nice  
> easy canter there was little need for the trot.
>
> That is also the way I rode her when I conditioned or hacked  
> around. I think the important thing is to ride like you train. It  
> really gets down to individual horse and how he/she is trained. The  
> trot can be just as assymetric as the canter if the rider does not  
> adaquetly change diagnoals regularly. If extened too much the trot  
> can be hard of the front legs. A good easy rolling canter where the  
> rider is consistent on changing leads can actually be an easy gait  
> on a horse.
>
> I remember Nina Warrens old horse Ballad. He would go into a easy  
> rolling canter which looked like it required absolutely no effort.  
> Nine hours later he would stop the canter at the end of 100 miles.  
> If I remember right Joe Long's wonderful little chestnut horse had  
> a nice little rolling canter also.
>
> Truman
>
>
>
> Bruce Weary DC wrote:
>
> >   I'm sure some other senior riders are bound to chime in on this  
> > question about cantering, but here are my thoughts. In my  
> > experience, the staple gait for endurance riding is the trot.  
> > Cantering, except perhaps among the very well prepared and  
> > experienced front runners, is typically done very sparingly.  
> > Usually for short stretches to loosen the horse up or make up a  
> > bit of lost time. IMO, extensive cantering should not be chosen  
> > simply because it is more comfortable for the rider.  Trotting is  
> > a symmetrical gait and thereby allows for more uniform muscle use  
> > in the horse, whereas cantering is an asymmetrical gait and there  
> > is a point in every stride where the horses weight is borne (if  
> > only for an instant) on one foot. To canter for the majority of  
> > even an LD ride, especially with a relatively inexperienced horse  
> > and rider, is a potential opportunity for injury through tendon/ 
> > ligament overstrain. Presuming my experience is not markedly  
> > different from most experienced, moderate paced riders out there,  
> > I'll wager that I don't typically canter more than a mile or two  
> > total over the course of a 50. Anyone out there having a  
> > consistently different experience?   Dr Q
>
>
> --
>
> "Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know  
> what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is  
> true."  - Bertrand Russell
>
>
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
> Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
> Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp
>
> Ride Long and Ride Safe!!
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=