From: Tracey
Dear Dr. Jahiel, nobody has been able to tell me why my horse wants to canter uphill and won't trot when I ask him to. He is very good at all other times and does just what I ask him to do. He is 27 and very well trained by my friend who sold him to me when she went to college. She hadn't ridden him in a few years but I wrote to her and she said that back when she rode him a lot he would trot up the hills. Now when I get to a hill he just won't trot up it, he canters. My intstructor says he is trying to be the boss, but when we get to the top he will trot or walk or stop or whatever I ask him, so I don't think it's that. My friend says that he doesn't like hills so he wants to get to the top in a hurry but I don't know if that really is why he canters. He doesn't seem to hate hills, he never tries to get out of going up them, and he'll turn or stop on the hill if I ask him to and he doesn't canter real fast, but I don't really know what he is thinking and we only go on hills when we go on trail rides. Where I live is very flat with no hills at all! I don't think he hates hills but he does want to canter, and I know that you said horses that run fast at jumps are trying to get it over with. So maybe my friend is right, what do you think? Nobody has told me a better answer! Please can you help? Tracey
Trotting uphill is very hard for a horse, ANY horse, not just a very old or very young one. Horses that are very fit CAN trot uphill more easily than unfit horses, but even fit horses would usually prefer to canter uphill unless they've had extensive training on hills. There's a good reason for this: cantering uphill puts much less stress on the horse's hocks. When he canters uphill, BOTH hocks work together; when he trots, ONE hock at a time takes the strain. To protect himself from the discomfort or pain, a sensible horse will choose to canter up the hill instead of trotting.
Horses that rush to jumps are generally in pain or anticipating pain when they jump and/or land, and that's a different story - they DO just want to get the whole process over with as quickly as possible. Horses that remain obedient, quiet, and cooperative, but just prefer to canter up hills, are just trying to do what you want them to do in the way that will be more comfortable for them. Since you only find hills on your occasional trail rides, and ride in a very flat area the rest of the time, your horse isn't physically adjusted to the demands of hill-work, and will probably always find it easier to canter up those hills. If he were my horse, I'd just let him do it, so that both of us could enjoy the ride and he could stay sound to enjoy the next ride, and the next. ;-)
Jessica
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