[Fwd: RC: Re: Up Hill or Down]

[wsabg@t-online.de (Wolfgang Schwingenheuer)]

CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com writes:

> No back peddle at all, Tom.  Just pointing out that the mechanism of the back
> and hind leg DOES have its limits.  But a good horse can maintain level
> somewhere into the vicinity of a 45 degree slope, which isn't too darn bad.
> Once we pass that, we do start to slide a bit.
>
> Heidi

Hello Heidi and others,

sorry, but now I have to step in here. But, I have to say that this is
not a pro or con to Heidi or Tom or whoever, just curiosity.
You say a good horse can maintain "level" somewhere into the vicinity of
a 45 degree slope. Now let's do some math again: in a 45 degree triangle
the horizontal and the vertical axes are equal (regarding the length).
Now, to get this picture to a horse, his forelegs have to have the same
length as his back, and even some more because of that little bit of
hindleg also being there between the back and the ground. Ooops, that's
a funny horse and I have never seen such one in reality. Just take a
square piece of paper and fold it from one edge to  the opposite. So you
have a piece of paper with two angles of 45 degree and one angle of 90
degree. Now take a picture of one of your horses standing on level
ground (with or without rider). Take the piece of paper so that the 45
degree "slope" draws a line from the end of the croup to ??? At my horse
this line actually hits the front hoove. And yes, in that case the horse
will have a leveled back. But don't forget the horses body. So in
reality you have to draw the line from a point somewhere between the end
of the croup and the middle of the hindleg. In the extreme the horse now
is sitting on that slope, but than it's not able to trot anymore (and
the frontlegs are still vertical, which can cause serious problems
regarding the balance), and the front has to be longer in the amount of
the horses body diameter. In the other extreme, the forelegs have to be
nearly double length ;-).
No, sorry, I can't believe in a horse with a leveled back trotting or
walking or even galopping. My horse is able to blast downhills, as Frank
points out, and he loves to do this on asphalt (the last few hundred
meters to the stable are downhill asphalt and he knows where his food is
...) but I am quite sure he does not level his back.
But, if someone out there has a horse which is built to fit the
triangle, I am also interested in a picture of this.
Just my 2 cents,

Wolfgang + Ninja
Germany


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