RC: Trotting Speed

[Rightrider@cs.com]

In my experience, you can't tell a horse's most efficient speed by mph, but 
rather by a heart rate monitor or by simply observing how much effort the 
horse is putting forth to maintain that particular gait over the miles.  A 
horse can be taught to maximize his biomechanical potential, be it in upward 
range or forward range and once he has been taught to move in that particular 
"range of motion," your next job is to teach him to RELAX there and only put 
forth the effort to keep moving ahead in that "frame."  If he can't hold the 
frame/length or elevation of the stride very long without tiring, you know it 
is not an efficient place for him to be.  While he will get stronger over the 
conditioning time, and therefore be able to hold the stride length/elevation 
for greater periods of time with less effort, he still isn't in his most 
efficient mode.  The most efficient mode is what he can maintain for 
miles/hours WITHOUT excess tension!  It is the tension which bleeds off the 
energy, whether emotional tension or the excess physical tension which comes 
into play when the horse is pushed beyond its comfortable range of motion in 
a gait.  Another very important factor to consider is the horse's balance.  A 
number of endurance horses doing their big, forward reaching trots, are 
unbalanced, landing much harder on their front ends that I like my horses to, 
and in my opinion shortening their potential career length because of the 
increased concussion on their front end and what it does to their bodies over 
the miles/years.  When finding that "efficient gait" remember to train in a 
balanced way of going, as well as training length of stride.  Hope this 
helps.  Donna Snyder-Smith