> There has been a lot of really interesting comments on the Resonant
> riding article on my WEB page (http://www.endurance.net/hollander). I would
> like to answer some of the questions raised. We had always assumed that a
> trot was the most efficient gait, NOT SO.
I was given to understand that the reason that the trot was the gait of
choice for endurance was not that it was the most efficient for speed,
but that it was easiest on the legs (as there is never only one foot on
the ground). I am of the opinion that this advantage goes away when the
horse is asked to do an extended trot, and extended trot is much harder
on the tendons of the two legs on the ground than the working canter (the
dressage word, I think, for resonant speed at a particular gate) is on
the lead fore.
> idea and takes a little getting used to. If you trot too fast you are using
> 10 to 15% more energy than if you switched to the canter.
> Next trip out try it and you will quickly note the speed the horse
> travels most efficiently at. Use your heart rate monitor.
You don't need a heart rate monitor on your horse to know that you can
get more speed for the same amount of effort at the canter than at the
trot (unless you are doing a collecet canter, instead of a working
trot). All you have to do is know that horses, when they want to go
fast, will canter...or gallop.
And a full racing gallop (four beat instead of three) is more efficient
for the same speed than the canter.
(aside, I will be honest with you, I don't know how to train a
horse to do a full racing gallop, my experience is...some horses do, and
some don't).
My understanding for why we don't ask endurance horses to use the full
racing gallop is that endurance people don't want to be going that fast.
I think, back in the old days, endurance horses were not asked to canter
for the same reason. But clearly, finishing times for endurance rides
have shortened dramatically. Hopefully, the incidence of cantering down
the trail has increased to allow for this.
My endurance stallion, can do a nice working canter (as long as the
terrain isn't too hilly or rocky) at about 13 mph (clocked by a guy on a
bicycle) for about 35 miles without even breaking a sweat, and
maintaining the same heart rate the whole way. (Maybe he could have done
it for longer, but we ran out of terrain that wasn't too hilly or rocky,
and the bicyclist ran out of steam).
I don't ask him to do this very often (just this once, because I was
riding with a guy on a bicycle), either in training or at a ride, as
despite the fact that metabolically he can stand up to it, I don't believe
that his legs would hold up to it for very long.
kat
Orange County, Calif.