I know people who only walk their horses when trail riding. For some, it is because the rugged terrain where they live – such as in the Rocky Mountains – precludes faster gaits; for others, the rider has a medical condition that requires her to avoid being jostled around; and some just prefer to enjoy beautiful countryside at a nice slow pace.
This is all fine and good but, if you’ve been reading this blog, you can probably figure out that I am not one of these people. To me, the purpose of walking is to get to the spots where you can trot, canter, or gallop. [Okay, I am overstating a little. If I am in a gorgeous place – such as a deep green Vermont forest or the Rocky Mountains – walking my horse is a fine way to take in the natural beauty around me.]
My preferred gait is the gallop, then canter, and trot is pretty fun too. Lately I have been thinking about this and wondering why humans love to go fast. Whether it’s in a car or on skis, a snowmobile, or a horse – we like speed. We even like to watch others go fast – for virtually every way of moving there is some kind of race. Just like we think that bigger is better, we think that faster is better in almost every pursuit.
It seems that many other mammals love speed too. My cats love to chase each other around the house; dogs do the same outdoors. And my horse, Tupelo, who is a draft cross and therefore not generally fond of galloping, really gets the lead out when he is running neck and neck on the trail with Prophet (Kerrie’s horse, the off-track Thoroughbred). Kerrie has to hold him back to one of his slower gears so that we can keep up but, when he is competing with Prophet, Tupelo runs faster and farther than he ever could on his own or with a slower horse.
Having studied evolutionary biology for a time in college I would surmise that in both predators and prey speed is a desirable trait. The fastest humans would catch the most prey and thereby have the most to eat and get the most praise from fellow tribe members. The fastest horses would escape predators. In order to motivate us to go as fast as we can, nature has equipped us with hormones that give us a high to reward us for speed. All I know is that going fast is fun, and my horse thinks so too.
So get out there and go fast (safely, of course!). Or go slow, if you prefer!
Monica
