Re: wide gait in hind end

["Sullys Maze" <Sully@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>]

REPLY TO 01/22/98 00:54 FROM ridecamp@endurance.net: wide gait in hind end

[71523] THU 01/22/98 00:54 FROM ridecamp@endurance.net: wide gait in hind end;
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From: Bierstedt <Bierstedt@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 22:45:46 EST
To: ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: wide gait in hind end

The discussion of gaits got me thinking of a recently published book called
"The Nature of Horses," by Stephen Budiansky. In a section on the mechanics of
movement, the author says, "a medium trot is more energy efficient than a fast
walk, and a medium canter is more energy efficient than a fast trot." He says
that each gait has an optimal speed, which horses naturally tend to favor.
"When traveling a these optimal speeds, the energy required to move a given
distance is the same whether at the walk, trot, or gallop."

In a way this makes sense, and yet, the implication is that a canter (at the
optimal speed) could be an energy efficient gait. But surely the trot is the
gait of choice for endurance?

* don't happen to agree with this.  I think the best scenario is to
mix the gaits, or let the horse choose (assuming you have a
well-conditioned horse you trust.) I have always read that the
canter is efficient becuase the motion assists the horse in
breathing.  Gosh, I have been to rides where the top ten horses just
about cantered the whole ride.

*It also really depends on the horse.  Some are trotting fools, and
some, like my friends little ARab/appy, can get into very slow,
relaxed canter and go for miles and miles, with a LOWER heart rate
than if she was trotting.

In reality, is the trot more energy efficient
than the canter, at least for distances? Is it preferred because it can be
sustained for a longer period of time?

*Again, this depends on the horse.

Karen
(Then there are the horses like my husband's appy, who cantered for the first
half of the 25-mile Twenty Mule Team Ride several years ago, but came into the
vet check in excellent shape. [Shame on these people with out-of-control
horses!])

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