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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] those VERY fast gaits - sharon1359

I had a feeling that I'd be opening a can of worms by saying that!  :p  Keep in
mind that my comment was specifically regarding the rack... which is one of the
ventroflexed gaits.

Asking a horse to maintain top speed (especially in a ventroflexed position)
over many miles is, in many experts' opinions, asking for trouble.  Read this
for more info: http://www.lizgraves.com/intergait.html

And YES, the same principles DO apply to non-gaited animals.  It's bad to trot a
horse at 15+ miles an hour for hours on end, no matter whether his back is
rounded or ventroflexed.  It's bad to trot a horse with his head in the sky for
hours on end, regardless of his ground speed.  (EGADS, now I've opened another
can!)

-SK





Quoting Mel Copeland <brio_gal@xxxxxxxxxxx>:


How could something that comes natural to an animal be bad for it?  I can
see extreme speed for a long time taxing the animal, but wouldn't the same
principles apply to non-gaited horses?  You would not want to canter or even
trot (in some cases) a horse over broken terrain.  IMHO, the same common
sense rules of riding apply to all horses gaited or not.  You know what the
horse can and cannot do and you don't push them beyond their limits or put
them in unsafe situations.

I have ridden a gaited horse that had a very fast gait in place of a canter.
  In my mind riding that horse in that fast gait is no different than
cantering a non gaited horse.  It is not a stunt, just what that horse does
naturally.  If you pushed that horse into a canter it would become very
discombobulated (sp?) and was much happier in a fast gait.

OK-that is my 2 cents :-)

Mel

From: sharon1359@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC]   [RC] those VERY fast gaits
Date: Wed,  1 Sep 2004 10:52:13 -0400

Not only is it unsafe in broken terrain, it's not good for the horse's body
to
do it for extended periods.  It can, in fact, be VERY BAD for them.
"Rackers'
bumps" are just one of the many possible results.

-SK



Please Reply to: Ray O'Donohue rno2m@xxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
==========================================

  Anything up there above about 8mph is probably something in the "rack"
category,altho all sorts of different terminology for it may be used
correctly
or incorrectly,etc.The "speed racking" 20mph type thing is in my view
something
of a stunt,rather than a practical gait.Such a gait MIGHT be useful on a
trail,but looks like it would be unsafe in open country/broken terrain.

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Replies
Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] those VERY fast gaits, Mel Copeland