[RC] Prescott Man v. Horse Race - k s swigartAbout a month ago I added the Prescott Man v. Horse Race to my planned endurance ride calendar for this year, and since this ride happens to be in Bruce Weary's back yard, I am willing to take him up on a variation of his challenge. I will bring a horse to Prescott and do what I can to increase my riding weight to something close to his. I can't use the 45 pound saddle any more (it has a broken tree), but the one I replaced it with weighs (I think, I never weighed it because I never considered its weight to be particularly relevant) about 30 pounds and I will see what I can do to load down myself and my horse with even more...maybe I will even bring the back pack with all the camera equipment. I know I can probably get myself up to 210 or 215 pounds by doing this, then Bruce can reduce his 235 pounds to about the same weight by getting rid of his saddle, and we will start at about equal weights. If, after having performed his experiment at Tevis he decides that the weight of the saddle is well worth the "cost" of the horse having to carry it, that is his business; I am not going to hang lead weights off of my horse's tail just so he gets to use a saddle. I will probably be bringing my 600 pound horse, and I am guessing that his horse probably weighs between 900 and 1000 pounds (but that is just a guess, I have never even seen his horse), so it is up to everybody to wonder if the 300-400 pounds of horse weight that my horse doesn't have to carry over the course has a bigger effect on the outcome than the fact that she won't have 300 - 400 pounds of bone, muscle, etc. to mobilize to do the work of carrying the load. But, the ride is a long way off, so I may decide to bring my 1200+ pound Anglo instead (and then it will be up to everybody to decide whether the extra 600 pounds that he would have to move down the trail that Windy wouldn't is also having an effect on the outcome, and what effect that might be). However, which ever horse I bring, I will bring along the capability to increase my ride weight (me and all my tack) to around 210 or 215 pounds (I have never gotten any higher than that, and have no idea where I would put more than that, I don't have the luxury of having a 6'+ frame of my own to hang it on). And we will see. kat Orange County, Calif. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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