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[RC] Pacing - rides2far?>>>Last year I rode with someone who did intervals of walk and trot over I rode with someone else who would walk, then canter to catch up. All three regularly top ten endurance rides of 50 to 100 miles. Can't imagine how you can top 10 walking but anyway, I'll be the bad guy and say it drives me crazy when somebody walks then canters back and forth by me. The thing is, it's like a giant rubberband is attached to my horse. The person sits there on their walking horse as I trot by, the rubberband attaches from their horse to mine. The farther my horse trots away, the harder that rubberband tugs my horse backwards, then at a critical point the pull is just too much for the walking horse and he gallops up on us and past us at which time the rubberband pulls my horse faster than I wanna go, and slows their horse back down to a walk. The rider of the other horse seems to just be a passenger. I see this technique mostly among people who are unsure about just how much is too much for their horse. They are worried that they're asking too much of their horse, so they just take what he offers, which is the walk canter being dragged along by another horse. It's just really upsetting to my horse to have them going back and forth. If they want to pass me, fine. If they want to stay back, fine, but the leapfrogging is very irritating. I remember when I used to think I needed to trot/walk. It was my problem, not my horse's. I finally realized that trotting did not affect him the way jogging affects me. They have the springy action of the pasterns and it's more like jogging on a trampaline. I highly recommend that you stick to the steady trot. If you need to walk, O.K. but if you're leapfrogging a lot I think it's a sign the horse is probably in charge and just drifting along reacting to other horses rather than the rider. Maybe this is way off in your case, but there are definatley those who it does fit. Angie ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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