Ridecamp: [RC] trotting

	All the people who posted that you have to 'train' for the trot out are 
absolutely correct.  The question is, how?  Thought I'd share what works 
for me (four different horses).
	Every time I ride (just about EVERY single time) I do the same things.  I 
saddle up with the girth loose, and run with the horse trotting with me for 
a few hundred yards.  I then tighten the girth, put in the bit, stretch the 
legs, yada yada--and then mount up.  I have always done this; even before I 
discovered endurance--it's just how I start.
	At the end of the ride (EVERY ride) I unsaddle, and then run with the 
horse to either the sawdust ring where they roll (in the forlorn hope they 
won't do it again in the dirt) or to their pasture.  This is a longer 
distance than the standard trot out.  In the ring, sometimes I do a 
circle.  Because they are eager to roll or be turned out, they are very 
happy to trot with me--and it happens every time they finish a ride, no 
matter how tired, etc they are.
	Any time I lead a horse anywhere, saddled or not (including on the trail) 
I will often run a short distance.  My horses are so accustomed to this 
they watch for my signal and just go.  When I started my new horse last 
year, before he was under saddle he was trotting beside me down the road.
	I've never had to put any effort into this training--just do it 
consistently, all the time--and you get a consistent result.

terre (I DO sometimes 'praise' them when they trot with me--"what a guy! 
Look at you!" kind of thing, and it makes 'em strut a little...)


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