Re: why required weight?

[Trishmare@aol.com]

Dear Susan,
    So what would the best stratagy for a light or middleweight person be?
Same thing?  That is, getting that 100 yd head start?  I guess what I am
asking is how would a lightweight rider best use their weight (or lack
thereof) to their advantage?

Trish & pretty David, TNG
Grand Blanc, Michigan

<< Teddy, there was no statistical difference in weights between pulled
 horses, completers, top ten or winners.  Some of the horses carrying the
 heaviest weights (and "weight" was analyzed in a number of different
 ways) were top ten or winners, with histories of consistently being top
 ten in other races.  Yes, a horse moving a heavier mass is going to use
 more energy to move that mass---BUT, at sub-anaerobic speeds, the
 metabolic fuel for moving that mass is almost entirely fats and any
 horse in good body condition and having the muscular fitness is going to
 have an ample supply of fatty acids to supply the demand.  So, so what
 if the heavier horse is using more?  Both the heavier horse and the
 lighter horse have ENOUGH to get the job done and that's all that
 counts.
 
 Yes, in a "run for the roses", head-to-head in a flat out sprint, weight
 will make a difference because the metabolic fuel has switched to
 sugars, which are in shorter supply and are being used more quickly by
 the heavier horse.  I've been saying this from the beginning.  But all a
 Hwt rider has to do (and HAS done many, many times in the past) is be
 crafty enough over the length of the 100-mile trail to wangle himself a
 50-yard or 100-yard head start and the head-to-head race will never
 happen.  If you're saying there are no opportunities for that kind of
 strategy along a 100-mile trail, well, I bet Bob Morris, Earl Baxter,
 Boyd Zontelli, and every other heavyweight who's ever won will disagree.
 
 You're welcome to blow it off as "studies or no studies", Teddy---you
 wouldn't be the first member of the Flat Earth Society.  Innovation that
 goes against the old beliefs is scarey, and ignoring it is always more
 comfortable.  Just my opinion, but if someone were interested in finding
 out from the study how to get better performance with fewer metabolic
 failures from their horse (heavyweight rider or not), they should read
 the study firsthand (which I'm happy to mail out to anyone who wants
 one) and see how it does in fact make sense.  But like it or not, the
 data is still there, and it's still real, and the conclusions are still
 iron-clad.
 
 I'm off to Norco Riverdance.  See y'all Sunday. >>