Re: In the real world....(up & down hills)
Joyce Kellenberger (joyce@homer.ca.boeing.com)
Wed, 30 Oct 96 20:01:29 PST
Tina: My riding partner and I have found that our horses always go at a more
aggressive pace when riding with at least one other horse. Riding alone
always seems slower and more of a push. So at endurance rides we ride more
aggressively than we do on training rides - we kind of go "all out". With
regard to the uphill, downhill thing, during training rides we trot uphill
watching our heart monitors, get off and jog along side the horse on the
downhill. This is not Cougar Mountain stuff though, but substantial. I have
been a runner for years and enjoy the running anyway. Sometimes my horse
will stop and look back at me as if to say, "Are you going to get off now or
what?!" Anyway, the point here is this: we don't always stick to our guns
on endurance rides; we ride harder. This is where you pull out all the stops
taking care not to overdo it of course. I, personally, would never, never
run, canter, or gallop a horse down a hill of any significance. That never
changes whether training or on endurance rides. Gradual downhill slopes can
be trotted, but I still believe that a horse only has so many downhill miles
as someone else said earlier.
Joyce
PS I don't ride to win; I ride to finish with a sound horse.