Susan F. Evans wrote:
> The first year we did the project we asked riders how far they were
> planning on covering on foot...Most of the people we knew who were bona fide
> distance runners (like Chris Knoch) said they ran 15-18 miles...
Funny that this cropped up. I was reading a 1993 copy of the Tevis Forum
last night and paying particular attention to an article written by
Chris Knoch about riding and running (he won that year).
I've snipped this a bit [...]:
"My biggest fear was my weight. At 170 pounds without tack this problem
was constantly on my mind. I knew for me to finish well I would have to
help Saxx by spending time on the ground..."
He then says something about not getting off much at the beginning of
the race because there were too many horses around to be able to do it
safely.
"Many people think that when a runner gets off the horse and leads, he or she
is running. The exact opposite is usually true. I never "ran" druing the
Tevis ride...
When I was off, the speed I was moving was fairly slow by horse standards.
I probably never exceeded five or six miles per hour, and that was only
on trail which would allow it. Most the trail was either a very steep
incline or a downhill protion at which time I was walking, going slow
and taking great care. Consequently, whenever I came to a portion of the
trail which would dictate that the horse go slow and careful, due to a
steep hill, I was off and saving my precious partner.
During the canyon portions of the trail I always jogged down the hills
if it wasn't too rocky and always led, not tailed, up the hills..."
So from that, I would infer, yes, he helped his horse by getting off.
But he also slowed it down, because he walked a lot slower than the horse
would normally with him on top.
With that approach, the horse presumably completes in better condition, but
theoretically with a slower time than if the rider had stayed in the saddle.
-- ************************************************************** Lucy Chaplin Trumbull - elsie@calweb.com Displaced English person in Sacramento, CAhttp://www.calweb.com/~elsie http://www.calweb.com/~trouble **************************************************************