They can stop pretty quickly - I have one that can do a
180 before you can blink - but that's not from a gallop. It's fairly simple
matter of physics - most of the weight is up in the body, and you raise the
center of gravity even higher (if you stay on). The horse can only stop so fast
without flipping over the front. Same reason you can't stop your car instantly,
even with ABS brakes - only so much force that the horse's feet can apply to the
ground without the ground giving way, or the shoes slipping on the
ground.
Just to compare, coming to a dead stop from a 30 MPH
gallop would have the same impact as falling from a height of 30 feet, which is
about a 3-4 story building. If the horse could stop with a deceleration of 1/2
that of gravity, it would take close to 3 seconds to stop (from the time the
horse reacted) and you'd cover nearly 60 feet before you came to a stop. Add 45
feet for every second that it takes you to get the horse's attention - if that's
even 3 seconds, you'll cover 1/2 a football field before you
stop.
What tends to mess us up and make us think they can
stop in no time is that stopping at the same rate from an 8 MPH trot results in
it taking 3/4 of a second to stop, and they do it in only 4 feet. From our
point of view, that is pretty close to instantly.
BTW, 1/2 a gravity deceleration is about what cars like
Ferraris, Porsches, and Corvettes can manage. It may be optimistic to expect a
horse to actually stop that fast even on good footing.
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carol
Stiles Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 10:18 PM To: Truman
Prevatt Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC]
Racing
Truman,
While I agree with you, the more time to stop,
the better, ie. finish lines further away from camp, and if it protects
unknowing volunteers, maybe it's necessary. However, I disagree with your
experiences. Just because you've never had a 1000 lb. animal stop on a dime,
you "assume" that it cannot happen. I assure you that it can and does happen,
especially with my horse. Furthermore I invite you to ride my horse, Beau, if
you don't believe me. But you better be a damn good rider, otherwise you'll go
over his head real quick when he stops.: )
