Kathy, this horse is only 5. Cantering in itself is not a big deal, in fact I like to mix it up on long rides. What I am concerned with this horse is him "cantering to keep up" at age 5. You have to remember the first few times I took Fellow out with you the first year I had him?? He was 6 (or close to it-can't remember when we first rode together, but I bought him when he was 5.5), and we talked about not going too fast..? You were great about it. I carefully chose those I would ride with that year. I wouldn't even ride with my then boyfriend..!
I don't think you ride that fast on training rides at all. But if these folks are trotting faster than this 5 yr old can trot, causing him to break into a canter, then IMO, she needs to find someone else to ride with for a few more months at least.
When we let a horse's herd instinct overrule what is good for him physically, we put that horse in danger.
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> From: sherman@xxxxxxxxxxx > To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [RC] cantering > Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:32:43 -0800 > > 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) > > > > > > > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- > 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!! > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
