Re: steep hills and cantering.

Sullys Maze (Sully@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU)
Wed, 30 Oct 96 12:57:35 PST

REPLY TO 10/29/96 17:37 FROM ridecamp@endurance.net: steep hills and cantering.

Hi all,

I'm reading the posts about going downhill on a horse. I have to
wonder at what slope would the gradient be too steep to trot down? To
canter down?

I know horses need to build their muscles up in going downhill. How
can you tell a horse is conditioned enough for trotting down steeper
slopes or is this a "no" "no"?

Happy riding to all!

Kimberly (&Mystery the fuzzy Morab)
Petaluma, CA

----------
Kimberly,

A few thoughts I have on the matter.

As you said, the slope matters, but what also matters is the
footing!

If it is a slight slope, and the footing is nice thick
dirt/decomposed leaves, with excellent traction, I think, if the
horse is accustomed to it, doing a moderate trot or slow canter
is appropriate. You can make up quite a bit of time, and
it will not be concussive if the horse is balanced.

Up here, we have extremely hard dirt roads with rocks, and trails
with rocks. I think it is better to slow down on surfaces like
that.

Here is an example. A friend and I did our first Endurance ride
years ago on logging roads. On the first loop, there is about
a 4 mile (I am guessing) downhill. We walked the horses down the
entire thing, and probably lost a ton of time. Everyone we talked
to said they had trotted down. We did the same loop a few weeks
ago. It was quite easy trotting (and even slow cantering) parts of
it. The footing was so good.

I am at the point I don't want to trot downhill on very hard
roads. Seems like too much concussion, especially when there is
no real reason to do it!

As far as downhills like the switchback down Mt. Barnabie, it seemed
quite appropriate to trot down it. I think it is important to slow
before the hairpin turns, so the horse is not turning at speed.
When we did that part last month, we trotted and cantered parts.
It is definately downhill, but gradual.

It also depends on if your horse is surefooted! A little mare I
used to own was surefooted as a mountain goat. It was VERY easy
to feel balanced trotting or cantering downhill. I would not do
it on my larger mare.

As far as dismounting, I doubt if the horse is walking, it would
make that much difference if you are on board or not. I would
be more concerned about a saddle that does not fit jamming the
horse in the shoulders with the riders weight, than I would worry
about the stress on the legs.

But think about this-if some folks say to only walk the uphills, and
walk the downhills, you would never be able to finish a 50 inthe
time allocated, if the course is hilly!! I see no reason why a
horse can't be slowly conditioned to trot or canter uphill,
especially if you have an HRM.

Karen

To: ridecamp@endurance.net