But alas, his gallop stunk up the place. It has taken a while but he is
now getting a good gallop. On the flat his heart rate at a 12.5 mph
extended trot is about 120 to 125. When he does an easy hand gallop at
about 15 to 18 mph he drops to about 110 to 115. Six months ago he would
run at 135 to 140 at the same speed. This has very little to do with
condtioning - since he was in good shape when I got him. For the last year
he was used in police work and got quite a bit of exercise. The difference
is his gallop is much more efficient now than it was several months ago.
He has had to unlearn some of the things he had been taught when he was in
the show ring and learn how to use himself properly. He is now rounding,
dropping his head and driving forward instead of upward. You can feel now
the forward power on each stride. It is not perfect but it is coming
along.
The problem with Dan was not Dan but Dan had been taught "false collection"
in the shoe ring. A slow canter and a collected canter are not the same
thing and a balanced canter is not the same as a collected canter. What it
seems that we need in endurance is the horse to be balanced and moving in
the most energy efficient way possible.
Truman
--------------- Original Post ----------------------------
>HOORAY!!!!! Finally someone has defined "natural way of going" and improving
>"carriage." There have been several article and lectures aimed at
>endurance riders
>for improving the horses way of going yet I still see many riders off the
>seat,
>hanging on the reins, horse's head way up, etc., etc. I'm sure we have all
>experienced the point at which our horse becomes relaxed aand begins to
>stretch out
>and down in front.
> My arab youngsters all have a naturally low head carriage and long
>strides.
>This makes for a very animated ride for me, especially at the trot.
>Posting is no
>problem with these guys. Trotting eats up the ground without a lot of strides,
>unlike many horses with the short, choppy trot.
> Again Diane, nice essay!!!!
>
______________________________________________________________________________
The race is not always to the swift, but to those that keep running.
Truman and Mystic "The Horse from HELL" Storm
and Danson "The Demon in Training" Flame
prevatt@lds.loral.com - Sarasota, Florida
____________________________________________________________________________
__