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[RC] cantering - sherman

Just curious...how long has your horse been under saddle? On the trails?
If you've been riding for a couple years already at slow speeds, and
your horse is settled and doesn't get hyper at faster speeds, he may
well be ready for as much cantering as you like.

My 14.1H 10 yr old has to canter to keep up with our bigger trail
partners, too, and like your guy, once he found out he could do this
easily, often prefers to canter than to trot faster. He doesn't get
racy, is ridden with a halter and is totally controllable (with the
exception of the occasional fit of head slinging), doesn't insist on
keeping up if I want to drop back, and often when we drop back our
bigger trail partners will slow down and wait. I don't have a problem
with allowing him to canter, but I also make sure I go on many rides
during which we canter only occasionally and so keep working on the trot
as well.

Kathy




lately?as I work to improve my horse's conditioning I find I have been
riding more with?experienced distance?riders and am finding that my 5
yo?14 hand?horse does not have the trot to keep up with a seasoned
Arabian distance horse.? He tries to extend his trot but gets all strung
out and falls behind and gets upset.? Or,?if I let him move up to a
canter he?can canter?along easily at the same speed as their big?trot.?
He?is still building?this gait and?what I wonder?is if I condition and
ride him regularly at the canter if this is an acceptable gait?(meaning
won't overstress or injure him more than a trot would) for a distance
horse.? He goes all day at his 6 mph working trot but we can either ride
alone or?with the quarter horses at this speed, it seems like a great
trot to me but when an Arab opens?up into their effortless float?down
the trail big trot we?catch a lot of dirt.? I also notice that the more
I let him canter and the better he gets at it that he doesn't even want
to try to trot anymore with a big mover but asks immediately to break to
the canter.
?
Amy and Kobe(who has been watching You Tube of the Mongolian horse races
and saw they all cantered the whole way and has decided that is the way
he wants to go)(he also wants one of those awesome hairdos they sport
with the forelock wrapped and sticking straight up)







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