Re: Newbie query: why required weight?

[Teddy Lancaster <Teddy@runningbear.com>]

Kat:

I must vehemently disagree with you. Weight carried by a horse, especially over
long distances has been proven over and over again to be a MAJOR decided factor in
the outcome of ANY race. The 165 pound rule is only a MINOR attempt to make the
competition fairer for all.  Horse-racing has handicapping...can you imagine the
problems that would cause for us?  Why do you think AERC has weight divisions?

Think about it...

Teddy


K S Swigart wrote:

> On Thu, 3 Sep 1998, Teddy Lancaster wrote:
>
> > Discussion has been that perhaps FEI should consider 3 weight classes (light,
> > middle and heavy).  Unfortunately, tradition has not in the past allowed for
> > more than ONE champion at a time.  So, for a good number of years to come,
> > when you ride an FEI ride, expect to weigh in at least 165 lbs.
>
> Let us hope that this is not the case and that the FEI endurance people
> learn from the FEI eventing people and do away with the minimum weight
> requirement all together.
>
> This requirement does not even begin to make anything "fairer" since
> heavier riders (even those weighing 200 lbs) never have to address the
> question, "Where do I put this stuff?"  Nor do they have to distract
> themselves from the competition itself to have officials signing their
> name on duct tape.
>
> And nobody has ever demonstrated that the amount of weight carried during
> the ride has any bearing on the outcome of an endurance competition.
>
> The more I hear about the things that many of the "underweight" riders are
> having to do in order to meet the weight requirement, the more convinced I
> am that it is an absolutely silly requirement and introduces far more
> inequities than it could possibly mitigate.
>
> kat
> Orange County, Calif.