Because Hunter is a limited distance horse (the shorter version of endurance) his job is to go down the trail as quickly and efficiently as he can while keeping himself safe and healthy.
I allow him to pretty much select a gear, sort of the equine version of automatic transmition. He went 30 miles Saturday. He racked for about the first half, then he fell into a nice ground-covering trot and near the end, he cantered along quietly. Where the terrain did not permit going faster, we walked of course. I have a friend who is absolutely adamant about never allowing her horse to trot. She'll ride him 50 miles, gaiting the entire distance. Before I decided that didn't work for Hunter, he did used to sort of round up to rest his neck and back if I had kept him racking too long. I think it is safer for him to trot when he begins to tire than for me to insist for whatever reason that he is a TWH and therefore should never trot. Nancy
