Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Some horses trot better than they canter.  Beau can't canter well, but has a real extended trot.  I wouldn't say he has much suspension at all - his motion is pretty much forward.  He actually fares better biomechanically through the back the more I canter in training.  His trot is definitely his more efficient gait that he can sustain for quite a long while, but he can't canter for extended periods, so we tend to trot during endurance rides.  It's almost like canter is not part of his vocabulary, but trot and gallop are. 

 

Some horses more effiicient gait is cantering so that's what they do.

 

K.

On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 3:22 PM, Peggy B-Smith <bvsrider@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I have ridden with people in the past who would not let their horses trot. They made them do an extremely extended trot. What I saw on these horses was their front legs all beat up by the back legs hitting the front. They looked like they had been trotting through barbed wire!

 

My mare does not have a nice extended trot, but does have a nice, relaxed canter. I finished all 4 days of Death Valley in '04 cantering quite a bit and in great shape.

 

Peggy Bergman-Smith

Bear Valley Springs, CA