Fw: [QSEndurance] RE: Fwd: physiology of weight

["Barbara McCrary" <bigcreekranch@cruzio.com>]

Oh, yes, Cindy Collins' post reminded me of Boyd Zontelli, who went on to
win Tevis one year, although he took a wrong branch of trail and lost a lot
of time.  He's a big man.  Chris Knoch, who won also Tevis, was not tall but
I'll bet he rode as a low-end HVWT.

Barbara

----- Original Message -----
From: "Barbara McCrary" <bigcreekranch@cruzio.com>
To: <msofen@pacbell.net>
Cc: "RIDECAMP" <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 7:49 AM
Subject: Re: [QSEndurance] RE: Fwd: physiology of weight


> There are some of us who have been involved with endurance riding for
> several decades, and we used to see Pat Fitzgerald win on 14.3 hand horses
> back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  I personally can't remember when
> Pat retired from the sport, but I know he won difficult races on small
> horses, and Pat probably stood well over 6 feet and would have been a HVWT
> rider.  I have often felt that if HVWT riders wanted to be able to compete
> strongly against lighter riders, they should just choose horses that can
> carry their weight.  Look at Earl Baxter, Jerry Fruth, and I don't know
who
> all else, who choose horses that can carry their weight, and they do VERY
> well in the sport.  I think all these weight divisions are confusing and
> unnecessary, but my husband doesn't agree with me and I know a lot of
others
> don't either, so just say it's my personal opinion.
>
> Barbara McCrary
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Sofen" <msofen@pacbell.net>
> To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>; <QSEndurance@yahoogroups.com>;
> <goneriding@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 3:11 PM
> Subject: [QSEndurance] RE: Fwd: physiology of weight
>
>
> > I have to simply smile at all of this.
> >
> > Remember the old chicken and egg story - are fewer heavy weights
"winning"
> > events because their horses can't handle it or is it because fewer
> > heavyweights enter the events or even try for a top ten?  Are
heavyweight
> > riders selecting "appropriately sized" mounts or going with a good
looking
> > but underbuilt horse?  Are the "overwhelming majority of events being
won
> by
> > arab and arab crosses" being won because there are only a handful of
> > non-arab breeds even entering the event?  There are SO many places where
> we
> > simply don't have the right kind of data from which to draw conclusions
> like
> > these.
> >
> > There is no question in my mind that carrying a heavier rider has to
> consume
> > more energy from the horse.  My ONLY question is this - does it really
> > (scientifically) affect the outcome of an event when ALL mitigating
> factors
> > are compensated for?  In a sense, a single weight National Championship
> > would give us that kind of data.
> >
> > Does that mean I support that versus multiple weight divisions?  No,
> > however, I would be more challenged and comfortable in a single weight
> > competition.  Why?  I want to compete against my peers, not just the
ones
> > that weigh the same as me.  I want to show that I can condition a horse
to
> > carry my weight without resorting to artificial leveling constructs such
> as
> > weight divisions.  I want to be able to beat a Valerie or a Becky and
know
> > that it meant something.  With tack I weigh in right at the upper border
> of
> > MW (210 lbs), and I believe that with the right horse and the right
> training
> > and the right prep and strategy, the extra weight becomes far less
> > important.  I look forward to testing that hypothesis in the future.
> >
> >
> > Mike Sofen
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> >
> > One must also be careful in interpretation of numbers.  Testimonials are
> > slect observations whereas appropriate use of statistics require a large
> > sample size.  True larger riders have won many if not all events at one
> > time or another, hower, if we were to look at finishes by class across
the
> > country in a mutlitue of events covering a multitude of terrain and
> > conditions over many years one would undoubtedly find that the largest
> > fraction (greater than 50%) of all events are won by riders/tack less
than
> > 185 pounds.  Another way to illustrate this is in terms of breeds.
True,
> > breeds other than arabs and arab crosses have ben successful at all
levels
> > of endurance, but the overwhelming majority of events have been won by
> arab
> > & arab/crosses.
> >
> > There are so many ways to represent numbers: fractions, percentages,
> > absolutes.  In absolute terms riders >185 pounds have won far fewer
> > endurance events than riders <185 pounds, regardless of how you pick and
> > choose selected observations.  If people were to gambel on these events
> > they would play the odds, or percentages, becuz most events will be won
by
> > riders less than 185 poiunds.
> >
> > Personally I beleive weight divisions are a must in a sport such as this
&
> > are rooted in scientific fact void of empassioned re
> >
> >
> > Jon K. Linderman, Ph.D., FACSM
> > Assistant Professor of Health and Sport Science
> > University of Dayton
> >
> >
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