Re: RC: Up Hill or Down

[Tivers@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/10/00 10:48:24 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
dleblanc@mindspring.com writes:

<< The assumption that the center of gravity will change is based on the fact
 that the saddle and rider both move back and forth depending on the slope
 of the back of the horse.  Tell you what - let's make it really simple -
 we'll take the rider out of the picture.  Let's just consider the horse.
 
 I doubt the Smithsonian would be interested - I'd thought all this would be
 intuitively obvious to the casual observer (horse sense tells you it's true
 <g>), but apparently not.  So I'll work out the math for you in a moment. >>


Let's make it even simpler. The center of gravity of the horse is just behind 
the shoulder, near the heart, when the horse is standing on a flat surface, 
according to the science, putting 60% of his stance weight on the forelegs. 
You can drop a plumb  line from this point and it will fall just behind the 
forefoot. If you place the horse on a downward incline,  The plumb line moves 
forward, probably past the foreleg on a reasonably gentle incline. Just a 
casual observation that doesn't require any horsemanship at all to make.

What you are saying is that this does not result in more weight being placed 
on the forelegs vs the hindlegs? Don't need a long academic dissertation, 
just yea or neigh. Let's get past this one before we entertain the next 
simple concept. 

ti 


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