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Kathy Swigart wrote:
> Since a horse will lose between 50 and 100 lbs during the course of a
> ride, one would assume that if weight were a factor, that this amount of
> weight would not be considered insignificant;
>
> however, since all the horses are going to be losing weight during the
> ride.
There was a nifty study done several years ago at the ROC that measured
weight loss in individual horses through the ride---weighing the horses
numerous times throughout the day and afterwards.
I don't have the study here in front of me, but I seem to remember that
the more successful horses lost less weight throughout the day than did
horses that pulled or finished at the back of the pack. Since this WAS
the ROC, I would assume that relatively little of the differences in
weight loss could be attributed to an inexperienced horse not drinking
enough. There are probably other factors that could also attribute to
differences in weight loss, but I thought it was interesting that the
horses that did the best were those that lost the least amount of
weight. As in the results of my previously described study, it would
seem that there are instances in which carrying more weight on the horse
in the form of water weight, a little body fat, etc., seems to be an
advantage.
I can't remember who the author was, it MIGHT have been Laurie Lawrence
from University of Kentucky, but also might have been Gayle Ecker from
Guelph, who's lurking on the list occasionally.
Susan
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