Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Canter vs Extended Trot

Yep.  When I was a kid, I had an Appendix QH mare.  I rode her every day from
the time school got out, until dark.

Some days, I would canter her all the way from my house, to the neighboring
town's general store to meet my friends and ride a bit, and then canter
home.  11 miles each way!  She handled it just fine, and we did it a lot!
However, she HATED being made to trot.  She'd get more tired fighting me to
break into a canter than she would if I just gave in and let her pick her own
gait to cover the miles.  And the gait she picked for herself was the canter.

Man, what a great distance horse she would have been, even if she wasn't an
Arab!

Jennifer

Typef wrote:

> I have often thought that a canter would be easier on the horse as their
> weight gets spread out over 4 hoofs hitting the ground at a slightly
> different time than a trot where the weight it split up between only 2
> impacts at once. Would love more information on this. My daughter's horse
> almost always refuses or fights an extended trot but can seemingly go
> forever at a nice soft canter.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jennifer Thompson" <jlthompson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 10:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [RC] Canter vs Extended Trot
>
> > Interesting this has bee brought up.  My mare, who suffered a ligament
> > tear in her stifle last year, is now pretty much retired due to
> > arthritis
> > setting into the joint.
> >
> > The vet at the clinic told me that I could still ride her lightly, but
> > try to only walk and canter.  He said cantering is easier on the joints
> > than trotting.  I thought it was weird, but he insisted that was the
> > case.
> >
> > Jennifer
> >
> > "Linda B. Merims" wrote:
> >
> > > Leonard.Liesens@xxxxxxxxxx said:
> > >
> > > >-   gaits : most don't canter - I do not understand
> > > > why - many places were OK for canter especially in
> > > > what you call the badlands (and event on dirt road) - I
> > > > think this is less traumatic for the horse as long as
> > > > the canter is gentle and slow - you guys like the
> > > > extended trot (we don't do that anymore in Europe)
> > >
> > > Interesting.  Remember that Frank Baines (the great
> > > 19th/early 20th century endurance rider) recommended
> > > cantering as well.
> > >
> > > Has anybody--for example a certain rather obnoxious
> > > self-taught equine physiologist who runs a group
> > > on equine sports nutrition on Yahoo--ever done
> > > carefully-controlled treadmill input/output tests
> > > to see whether the canter is the more efficient gait
> > > for any given horse and across the majority of
> > > horses?
> > >
> > > Linda B. Merims
> > > lbm@xxxxxxxxx
> > > Massaachusetts, USA
> > >
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 If you are an AERC member - PLEASE VOTE in the upcoming By-Laws 
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