Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

All I know is that at the end of a 50-mile ride my endurance team mates complain about aches and pains and I don't have any.  Not any!  And I am considerably older than any of them.

On one particular ride, I had done some furniture moving before driving to the ride.  When I got up the morning of the ride my back was out.  I had already paid the money and vetted in my horse, so with the help of friends I got on.  The idea was that if it did not work out I could pull.  Well after a half an hour I was fine.  No more pain for fifty miles on my paso fino.   The back pain did come back the following morning, but not as bad.  

-Paul
On Aug 22, 2005, at 11:40 AM, Sky Ranch wrote:

> I know I will get major flames from this, but I just have to say something here -- people who ride gaited horses say that it's such a smooth ride, but observing them going down the trail, I can?see a lot of movement in the riders?- no, it's not like riding a trot or a canter, but when I watch your bodies, you are moving quite a bit.? I rode a gaited horse one time, a TWH, and quite honestly, for?me -- I?did not like the movement.? I felt like I was sitting on a washing machine that?had an?unbalanced load... it didn't feel 'right' to me.? Probably I was doing something wrong(!), I'll certainly admit that!? But, I prefer the "feel" of the?gaits of a QH or Arabian or TB.? A good horse is going to have?smooth gaits, no matter the breed, I believe.
> ?
> OK -- now, I am NOT slamming gaited horses here, believe it or not!? The more I see of them, the more I truly do like them.? But, saying they're a smoother ride is a stretch for me.? Ok, I'm now putting on my fireproof suit...
> ?
> Carla
> > <x-tad-bigger>----- Original Message -----</x-tad-bigger>
> > <x-tad-bigger>From:</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>Bruce Weary DC</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> </x-tad-bigger>
> > <x-tad-bigger>To:</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> </x-tad-bigger>
> > <x-tad-bigger>Sent:</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> Monday, August 22, 2005 8:45 AM</x-tad-bigger>
> > <x-tad-bigger>Subject:</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> [RC] Gaited horses/sore back</x-tad-bigger>
> >
> > ?I, too, have experienced the "stagnant back" when gaiting for a long time. It's nice to have a horse that can mix up the gaits a bit. I think it's good for the horse and the rider both. The foxtrotter is a trotting horse as well as a gaiting horse, and as such, many of them can switch between gaits, allowing the horse and the rider to use other muscle groups. 
> > ? To bore you folks further, there is an important neurologic relationship between our joints and the muscles that drive them. All of the joints in our body are richly supplied with nerve endings which supply information back to the spinal cord and brain, as well as the muscles themselves. When you ride a gaited horse (or sit at a desk too long, for that matter) these nerve endings "quiet down" and don't provide as much information as they could to the muscles nearby. This contributes to the "stiff" feeling we have sometimes when getting up from bed in the morning, rising from a chair after a few hours of sitting, or gaiting for a long time on a horse. So, when we change gaits, or get up from a chair and move around, we engage different joint systems, which is just as influential as moving the different muscles themselves. This is one of the reasons that athletic trainers will teach you to use a full range of motion when lifting weights. Yes, it stimulates more muscle, but also wakens more nerve endings in the joint, which then talk to the muscle and help in the strength building process. Anyone who has experienced restricted mobility in a joint (from injury, surgery, joint replacement, arthritis) will often notice that the muscles that move that joint lose size and strength even after aggressive therapy. One of the reasons for this is that if the joint nerve endings can't be fully stimulated, the associated muscles can't either.
> > ? ?That's it for today. There will be a quiz on this material on Wednesday. Class dismissed. ? 
> > ? ? ?Bruce Weary