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Re: [RC] Question re Running up hills-easiest way? - Diane Trefethenheidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:This wasn't intended as an analogy. It was intended to provoke a mental image of the differences in stresses a horse encounters powering upwards vs a horse coming down on its forehand. And why "Alas"? For most of us, it is true.Alas, this has been going around the sport for years. (And nowhere does traveling downhill put the sort of stress on the forelimbs that jumping does--that isn't a very accurate analogy, sorry.) Every word here is true. Unfortunately, an Endurance Ride is not exactly a collection of well-balanced horses and riders with excellent form. Cast your mind back over the last thousand or so Ridecamp posts and you'll find hundreds commenting on unbalanced or out-of-control horses and riders but probably not even one about what a beautifully balanced horse someone saw at her last endurance ride or how some horse literally floated downhill. That's because you don't see many of those riders or horses. The vast majority, I'd guess over 80%, of horses go downhill on their forehands and their riders are either canted forward or leaning too far back. Thus for the vast majority, going downhill IS stressful and as Bill said, such miles are definitely limited.I was blessed early in my riding career with a horse who naturally went downhill balanced, and what a treat it is. There is very little stress on their forelegs--they round in the back and reach under themselves with their hind legs, and most of the stress is on the large muscles in the back of the buttocks... It is indeed possible to teach most horses to do this, even if they don't accomplish it naturally. And if they do it right, then the theory that they only have so many downhill miles is no longer relevant. Key words are "if done properly". I'll read between your lines and conclude that you think that if done IMPROPERLY, it's tougher on the forehand than on the hind which is the reality for the majority of Endurance Riders.So going downhill is tougher on the hind end, rather than on the forehand, if done properly--the hind end and the back do most of the work and take most of the weight. And to me this is really important. By stating that trotting downhill balanced is "very little stress on their forelegs", WITHOUT the caveat that Bill was absolutely right about the limited number of miles you can trot downhill out of balance, you do a real disservice to less talented riders, ie, most of us. Heidi said trotting downhill is not stressful, they'll remember, forgetting the little word "balanced". So they'll happily trot down hills knowing that Heidi said it wasn't hard on the horse's front legs. Bad news. Done improperly, it IS hard. Picture one of those chairs for invalids that go up and down stairs. They glide up; they glide down. The seat of the chair remains perfectly level. When you ride down a slope that is not very steep, on a well-balanced horse that properly reaches under itself, your saddle should feel almost as level. You shouldn't feel as if you are being pitched forward nor should you feel the need to lean back to balance the horse's downward motion. UNLESS you feel this comfortable, this level, trotting downhill WILL put a lot of stress on your horse's forehand, especially when you hit the bottom of the hill. Roberta Lieberman (rlieberman@xxxxxxxxxxxx) Wed, 30 Oct 1996 16:36:45 -0500 > Truman Prevatt adds some wise words to the up/downhill dialog: > > There was an interesting comment in "Endurance News" by C. Hart in his > "pacing" article. He comments that most downhill injuries occur at the > bottom of the hill where it levels off becuase of the addition force > applied by the centripetal force involved. After all when you come to the > bottom of a hill you are on a circle and the centripetal force places > additional stress on the horse. > > ...A good application of basic physics to riding! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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