Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> Lynn Kinsky wrote:
> > It's part of equalizing the conditions for all horses in a 
> > particular competitive class.  They all go at the same pace AND 
> > they all carry approximately the same weight over the same trail. 
> > The horse with the best recoveries, metabolics, soundness under 
> > those equal conditions, wins.
>
> Ed Kilpatrick wrote:
> > diane, it is so that your horse does relatively the same amount of 
> > work as the other horses.
>
> So how does that work?  If the heaviest competitor weighs 250#, does 
> everyone else carry weights? Any 110# rider carry 140# in weights? 
> If the objective is to equalize the WORK done by the horse, is the 
> horse's weight factored in?  I expect an 850# horse carrying a 200# 
> rider (w/tack) would have to work harder than an 1100# horse 
> carrying a 200# rider.  Does the rider of the heavier horse have to 
> carry extra weights to compensate for his horse having it easier 
> from the get-go?

That's why I said *approximately* the same weight -- Heavyweight 
horses are those carrying  190 pounds (rider plus tack) or more; 
lightweight is less than 190 pounds.  The *horse's* weight is 
irrelevant.  (My strongest horse is a 14hh, 800 lb mare -- who never 
lost a condition or soundness point when carrying 230 lbs of me and 
tack).

This ties in with the horsemanship scoring also -- which is geared 
towards a rider who is riding light and balanced over the horse's 
center of gravity. A balanced heavy rider has less effective weight 
from the horse's point of view than a lighter rider who is sitting 
like a sack of potatoes.
--

 Lynn Kinsky, Santa Ynez, CA
 http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky/

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