Re: Heavyweight vs. Lightweights

["LOUISE D BURTON" <FIREDANCEFARMS@prodigy.net>]

We have a heavyweight, featherweight, and juniors in our family, and from
our experience in selling horses to several heavyweights, I can definitely
attest that if you ride as a heavyweight, you are riding with an entire
barage of problems that  FW don't even think about.  The number one thing is
saddle fit.  A FW can get by with almost any saddle, not so with a HW.  The
other thing is feet.  HW riders have to be much more careful about sore
feet.   This is to say nothing of condition of the horse.  I will never
forget riding a horse I had hardly ever been on that was just flying through
a ride...couldn't figure out why he was so good...then I remembered this was
the horse my husband rode!  And my daughter, when she just started...tacked
in at 90 pounds....rode our beloved gelding 1000 miles at age 18 and 19!  He
always looked as if no one at all was riding him!
And it does show up on the vet score.  Amber won BC over her 240 pound
sponsor on a ride one time!
Bruce believes a HW  can't make it through Tevis  unless you get off and run
with the horse...and I think the gravel road on the NC was particularly hard
on horses with the HW riders.
 Now if I could just get Bruce to condition all of my horses.....
Happy Trails,
Louise
Louise Burton
Firedance Farms Endurance Arabians
Oklahoma
http://pages.prodigy.net/firedancefarms