ridecamp@endurance.net: [endurance] High heads

[endurance] High heads

Virginia Goodman (PHA146@UKCC.UKY.EDU)
Wed, 20 Mar 96 19:37:51 EST

Guess I need to comment about "trotter" being "forced" to carry a
high head. At speed in their respective gaits (trot or pace), every
horse has a different "head set" at which s/he is balanced at that
gait. A _good_ trainer does not just yank the head up but finds
where the horse is balanced -- at speed -- and puts the check rein
at that level. Some horses need a higher check than, say, Arrive at
Five or CR Kay Susie.

I have noticed that my Arab, when trucking down the trail loose as a
goose, will have his head low. But when I hitch him to my jog bike and
take a few turns about the oval at the Horse Park, his head is right up
there with the trotters when he's going a good lick. No, I don't use
a check rein.

I've watched a lot of horses at liberty (and in Kentucky, there's a lot
of horses to watch) and, with the exception of stallions strutting about
their paddocks, _none_ of them carry their heads like the "experts" say
they should. They don't fall on their faces, either. Makes me wonder.
So when I'm heading down the trail, I drop my reins and let my horse
decide where he's balanced. After all, I've raised him from a baby,
but I discovered that he was born trained, he just had to train me how
to talk to him. I'm still learning.