I was just wondering is it ok for when your horse canters it kinda trots in the back and canters in the front?

Question

I do not have a horse that does this but the barn I ride at we have afew horses that unless you kick them really hard they do not do a full out canter...and i just want to make sure we are not hurting them by lettong them canter with there back legs trotting....

Answer 1

my guess is that these horses are the school horses right? usually they do this because they are lazy. there could be some issues with the hind, but there are some horses at my barn that do this and they are lazy.  Also, this type of canter is easier for kids learning how to canter to stay with, so a lot of school horses have adapted that kind of canter.

Answer 2

Well, my pony used to do this.  The vet says it ends up hurting their muscles.  Because... They are using different types of muscles when they canter and trot at the same time, so the muscles can end up binding together after a period of time.  That is what the vet said so I beleive him.  He said it won't hurt them unless you are continueasly do this.  It is kind of a bad habit anyway.  I would suggest you quite while you can.

Answer 3

Well, that kind of canter isn't really what you want your horse to do, but I wouldn't say you're hurting them by allowing them to do it.  Since they're quarter horses, I'm not really surprised that they're doing this.  If they were show horses and especially if they went in both the western and english classes at their shows, they're trained to do that.  The AQHA canter isn't a true canter, even for english classes.  At the canter, all the legs leave the ground.  Whenever I've seen english classes at AQHA shows, no one goes forward enough to allow their horses to move like that.

If you're riding english and ever want to show, you'll need to have a more extended canter than what your horses are giving you.  If it was me, I'd push the horses forward a lot more and make them use their hind ends to propel themselves forward.

I'm guessing that this isn't the problem since we're dealing with quarter horses, but the horses could be lame in one of their hind legs.  We have an appaloosa at my lesson barn who doesn't like to push with his hind end... when cantering to the left, the horse leads with its hind right leg and that's the one that hurts him, so he won't really push with that leg so when he goes to the left it's really a 4 beat canter.  So lameness can be the problem too.

Answer 4

What breed are they ? Standerdbreds don't really have a canter

nor does a some horses that are gaited

if some has to kick that hard something is very WRONG

Please tell us what breed they are and more about them

opps I spelled wrong

Answer 5

I would worry more about injury to their ribs after kicking them so hard,

it isn't necessary to kick any animal.

any good trainer will agree