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RE: [RC] Trotting? - heidi

Every horse is different.  While it would behoove you to continue to work on her trot so that she has a change of gears, so to speak, she may just be more comfortable cantering.  If she rolls along easily in a canter and if her heart rate drops readily when you stop, then there is certainly no harm in covering a fair amount of the trail at a canter.
 
I've personally ridden horses that had lovely canters and spent quite a bit of time at a canter, horses that had lovely trots and mostly trotted, and a few real gems that had both lovely trots and lovely canters, and could utilize both.  Actually, I think that the most neglected gait on most horses is usually the walk--a horse with a good walk can clip along at 5-6 mph and can cover a fair amount of ground at the walk at a ride, whereas the horse with the more average 2-3 mph walk is really at a disadvantage if he has to spend much time at a walk.
 
You might want to have a good dressage instructor evaluate you and your mare to see if there are exercises that you could be doing to help her to round her back and engage her hindquarters at the trot to make it more comfortable for her.
 
Heidi



Okay, I think in terms of what shape my mares in she'd be fine with a 50
miler. Mostly what I'm worried about is me. I can't seem to put enough
miles on her to get her to settle down and I'm hoping that maybe a fifty
would do it. I have a real hard time keeping her at a trot, and it seems
we spend most of the trail either walking or galloping, and the only
reason she walks is because I make her. It's not like she's in perfect
condition or anything. I can't spend the whole endurance ride only
walking or galloping, from all I've heard it takes a lot of trotting. Do
I just need to put more miles on her? And should I probably not attempt
an endurance ride until I can keep her at a steady trot consistently? So
far I've found the best method to be sticking her right behind another
horse so that she is forced to trot. Will a 50 mile endurance ride help
put her mind on business? Other than thinking she has to go full speed
for a whole ride, she's a pretty good horse and only crow hops
occasionally. So I'm not TOO worried about being able to handle her. The
main thing I'm worried about is keeping her at a trot. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Chelsea
--
 Chelsea Marsh
 chelsea_marsh@xxxxxxxxxxx


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