Re: why required weight?

[Kirsten Price <kirsten@vermilion.reno.nv.us>]

One little measly anecdotal observation (only loosely related) I can
contribute.....

Last year I went to a local cutting event and watched woman who must
have weighed near 300# compete.  Not knowing aything about her except
that one obvious fact, I must admit raising my eyebrows just slightly as
she came in the arena..... then I watched her ride and promptly ate my
thoughts (sighing with relief that I hadn't made any stupid comments out
loud to my friend standing next to me).  This woman could RIDE.... talk
about balanced and in tune with her horse. I was impressed. Her
expertise was all the more noticable because of her weight. I can't
recall if they won that class, but they scored really well. It was an
excellent go.

My point is that this woman's weight was no hindrance to her horse at
least as far as I could see. IOW, her riding skill far outweighed (like
the pun?.... BAD girl Kirsten, bad girl) any negative effect that her
weight might have had. Granted, this is a much different discipline and
I am not claiming that her horse would not have been "relieved" if she
had weighed substantially less.  I am saying that it makes intuitive
sense that 250 lbs. of skilled rider is less stressful for the horse
than 150 lbs. of less skilled rider. As a side note, I can also attest
to the fact that my riding skills (specifically balance) improved when I
lost a substantial amount of weight... so it may be easier to be a more
skilled rider when you are at a reasonable weight and in good physical
condition.

Using the backpack analogy..... the comfort and specific distribution of
the weight of the backpack on you makes a much bigger difference in your
ability to carry it farther than the amount of weight itself (at least
when you are talking about a relatively small percentage of your own
body weight). I weigh 150#...... I can carry 30% of my body weight (50#)
in a good, well constructed, well-balanced pack, much more comfortably,
much faster and much farther than 20% (30#) that is distributed
unevenly, shifts around or is distributed in such a way that my back is
unduly stressed. I expect (again... intuition.... no hard facts) that
weight would make even less difference to the horse than balance and
distribution of the weight.

So sure.... all other things being equal.... the weight might make a
difference.  But all other things are never equal and those other things
make a much bigger difference in terms of race outcomes. I think that's
what we're really seeing in Susan's study (not having read it). I guess
I just made an arguement for getting rid of weight handicapping didn't
I?

--
Kirsten Price
Vermilion Desert Ranch
Reno Nevada

http://www.eqwi.com/Ads/V/Vermillion/vermilion.htm