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Re: [RC] head dipping - Rae CallawayMy gelding has done the head dipping. Given that every time he starts doing it was after being out for a while and I was tired. Since, unlike his dam (who thinks she's gaited), he has a normal trot that I have to post, I always figured that I wasn't posting smoothly anymore and his back was getting sore.
Rae
From: Sharon Hahn <sharon.hahn@xxxxxxx> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 9:35:04 AM Subject: [RC] head dipping Everybody has good ideas about what this might be, but without actually seeing what's going on, it's hard to tell. When my old mare is getting tired, she drops her head and stretches her nose forward in an effort to take a deeper breath. Horses sort of have to breathe in rhythm with the gait, so if she's following others that are going a little faster than she would like (we used to ride competitive trail in a group a lot), this helps her (usually I slow down when I notice her start to do this!) That would be consistent with the trying to move from trot to canter, which also happens when she is tiring. If we stop to walk for a few minutes, she usually stops doing that when we pick up the trot again - at least until she starts to tire again. So if your horse doesn't seem like he wants to go faster and doesn't seem sore, that could be it. --
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