my Arab is on his way to being fit for a 25. We did a pretty fast 5 Saturday evening and then a 5.5mph 8.1 Sunday morning. I’ve noticed that he seems to do better cantering than trotting. He was getting tired towards the end of our 8 miles, but would willingly canter even when he was no longer interested in trotting. Cantering is easier on me too. Is there any issue with just getting him fit to canter a bigger portion of a ride?
I think they do best if you switch it up- trotting uses different muscles than cantering, so they can sort of “rest” up from one while doing the other gait. I think it works the same for humans, too- switching around from posting to two point to sitting will reduce your fatigue.
Horses will offer up a canter often if they are tired, so you might want to slow down if he does that. I agree with Wendy that both gaits are useful tho. Be sure to change leads and diagonals frequently. Have fun!
He prefers to canter even if he’s not tired. He’s preferred it since he was young. He will even hang back from following me in the pasture just so he can run to catch up. The canter is by far his best gait and always has been. He actually didn’t really enjoy being ridden much at all, tolerated but didn’t enjoy, until I introduced cantering under saddle.
I can’t sit his trot on the trail though. Hes too forward and bouncy to sit when he’s trying to look around at everything. He still spends too much time trying to check out all of his surroundings.
Just a note: LDs are usually considered intro rides to prepare you for Endurance distances (50 miles and up.) As such, racing (i.e. cantering for long stretches) is not what you should be doing as a new rider and/or with a new horse. Your horse may (a) develop “race brain” quickly, and/or (b) get overridden.
Instead, train as you like at home (keep in mind that long slow distance is better at first than faster shorter rides), but at the actual ride take it easy. Start in the back, possibly pair up with someone experienced, work on that bouncy trot you describe and maybe throw in a few canter stretches here and there if all goes well. And take walk breaks, including you getting off and walking. This will also relax your bouncy and “looky” horse.
The goal is to cross the finish line with a horse that recovers quickly, has a healthy appetite, and could do it again.
Some vets in our region (West) do not look kindly upon new riders going fast on their first rides. And saying that your horse “prefers” a canter will not make them happy. (I know what you mean though - some horses have such a nice lope and travel more easily down the trail that way, but definitely develop that working trot.)
Good luck!
^^ This
I would also recommend you check out Karen Chatons blog( karenchaton.com) . She is a very experienced rider( over 35k miles ! )
with a lot of good information about almost anything related to endurance.
I would start with these posts- I wish I had read them earlier.
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2013/10/longevity-endurance-horses/
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2012/01/endurance-riding-minimizing-wear-tear-horse/
That said, every horse has a gait that they are most comfortable at-for example, my mare hates to trot slowly and would rather walk at about 5mph. She also prefers a big trot (12-14+ mph) to cantering, but I rarely let her trot that fast as I don’t like to ride it ,I worry about additional stress on suspensories at that speed/gait combo and she doesn’t watch where she puts her feet at that speed.
A friends horse would rather pick up a trot at 4mph and canter above 8mph- he will also switch leads about every 10-12 strides on straight sections and will always be on the inside lead around turns.
The key,IMO, to doing well in endurance is to know your horse and your limitations.It is always better to err on the side of cation. I would much rather come in overtime than have my horse look less that 100% at the finish.
In no way do I intend to push him past what he’s capable of. I always bring him in with more in the tank. He actually has a lot of self preservation in that he will quit on me before he’s too tired. I’m not interested in cantering a whole 25 mile ride. As it is now, we mostly trot our rides with walking as needed, but he clearly would rather canter when he’s fit.
If you don’t ride with a heart rate monitor, can you perhaps borrow one and see what his heart rates are at a trot vs slow canter?
Some horses prefer to trot, like mine, but others prefer a slow canter. I’ve seen plenty of people riding in the middle or even back of the pack on these types of horses, since the slow canter is about the same pace as a good working trot (8-10 mph).
If your horse is truly one of these horses, and not just cantering because he is tired, his heart rate should be lower at a canter than at a trot…
I don’t have one, and most people here don’t bother to feed their horses, much less monitor heart rate. I plan to buy one soon. He’s not really exerting himself at the canter. His stride is very long ago he’s covering ground, but its a nice easy canter generally. He’s about 15.2h but has a 12’ or 13’ canter stride at an easy canter. I measured 12’ when he was 4 but he’s grown since then (coming 8).
He does come in breathing a bit hard but is back to breathing normally within a few minutes, if not less. He’s never seemed like he’s really tired. I’ve made sure to always bring him home with energy left. I’m not aiming to do a LD with him for a couple more months at least. My plan was to do 10 this weekend, so that’s all I’ve been aiming for.
I’d been taught a long long time ago by a respected dressage trainer in this area that cantering is better for older horses because it’s easier on their joints. We would always warm up cantering her older dressage gelding before trotting.
I think it depends a lot on how you’re using the canter. If it’s just an easy lope and he’s happier that way, I’d probably split the ride half and half. Asking him to trot where the footing demands it, but letting him lope where he can. However, if he’s wanting to canter because it’s going faster and being race-y, you don’t want to go that route.
My Arab will ask to switch gaits on the trail and I pretty much let him. He’ll do a nice ground covering trot for a while. Then he’ll decide he wants to canter here or there. Sometimes he’ll pick up steam if it’s really flat and open, but most of the time he just wants to lope along and use different muscles. Before too long, the trail usually dictates dropping back to a trot. As long as he isn’t getting bratty about it and trying to race, I pretty much just let him pick the gait. He does a good job getting us down the trail with minimal effort on his end.
Not all horses are like that though. A friends gelding will run run run till he drops. He gets no vote on pace on the trail.
No this horse will not run till he drops, and he’s very careful with his footing too. If he’s really fresh from cold weather and lack of work and I only have time for a short ride, sometimes he will want to race, but the canter I’m talking about is an on the buckle lope type of canter. He can trot as fast as this canter if he really gets going in the trot. I’ve not checked the speed on it but his stride is so huge that the speed isn’t going to indicate the energy he’s really using. I’ll check the speed the next time I ride just for curiosity.
You sound like you’re being conscientious about your conditioning and indeed, some horses are cantering fools where others are trotting machines. Mix it up, make sure you’ve got the option of any gait, either lead, both diagonals – and then use all of them in your tool box when they make sense.
The comment someone made above re: the difference between a racy-upside-down boingy canter and a nice, easy loping canter resonates with me too.
One of my horses cannot keep up with my husband’s horse’s big trot and just asks to canter, his back comes up, his eyes soften, he practically sighs. He’s happy and relaxed and while I don’t condition with a HRM either, I’d bet the farm that his HR dropped a good 10-20 beats too.
Good luck.
–Patti
That’s how this horse is. We did 17 miles last weekend and rode briefly with a few other groups. He does sometimes choose to canter when other horses are at a working trot. I set the pace and let him pick the gait and he tended to canter earlier than some of the other horses we followed.
I’m confused by your sitting trot comment. It’s been years since I rode endurance, but I never “sat” any gait but the walk when I was on the trail. Two point for canter and post or two point for trot work.
I dunno, I’ve been out of it for many, many years. I think as a rider it’s my job to train my horse to work in the gait and speed of the gait that benefits his health and gets us home the fastest.
If your talking about my reply, no I don’t sit his trot on the trail. I’ll sometimes sit when I school him in dressage (his previous job, he enjoys this more). I’m as out of the saddle as possible at the canter, considering I’m in a dressage saddle, but I really only sit at the walk too. It takes too much energy to try to sit his trot for long distances and over uneven terrain.
Is it possible that his bouncy scattered trot makes it harder for you to sit smoothly so that his back gets sore and so he ramps it up to the smoother canter?
I don’t mean to offend, by any means, since I’ve never seen you ride or anything. Just crossed my mind!
Canter on…!! One of my horses preferred to canter, and had a lower heart rate at the canter than a strong trot. He was balanced and it was very easy for him. His canter was not a gallop…but I could rate him…and he finished in great shape with good recoveries. You know your horse…
No, he is not getting back sore. He has let me know in no uncertain terms when he is. I have no issues posting his trot without hurting his back.
