RE: Physiology of Weights

["Bob Morris" <bobmorris@rmci.net>]

Angie, you are forgetting part of the equation. It is not
just the riders weight that matters but the total weight of
the mass that has to be moved. Your 847 plus yout 180 is
equal to a mass of 1027 vs. the 1050 horse with 210 or total
mass of 1260. Even thought you are getting close to maximum
weight for horse (WHICH FOR AN ARAB IS MORE LIKE 26%)you are
still better off than the bigger horse.

Arlene did over 5000 miles on Peeco who weighs in between
700 and 750 while she weighed with tack about 150 to 160.
All 5k were top ten and most were top five.

There are so many variables that this discussion has no true
answer. How do you factor in the mental state of horse or
rider? And that is one little thought about, but very
important.

Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID

-----Original Message-----
From: guest@endurance.net [mailto:guest@endurance.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 1:25 PM
To: ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: Physiology of Weights


Angie McGhee Rides2far@juno.com
 >>> I'm a FW. If my husband conditioned my horse (he
would be a HW) and then I rode the horse in competitions,
would the horse
perform better because he was carrying less weight than he
was used to
carrying?

A very interesting study was done in Australia. If I
remember the details
right, they had a heavyweight & a featherweight condition 2
horses.  The
HW's horse's pulse was higher at first, but over the course
of weeks they
pretty much evened out.  Then they gave the horses several
weeks off and
then traded. At first there was a major difference, but
through training
they both evened out again.  The main thing that they
concluded from it
was that the biggest advantage was to condition a horse with
a
heavyweight, then put a featherweight on for competition.  I
don't think
people liked those findings much so they sort of ignored
them, but I'm
surprised now that there's starting to be $$ in the sport
that some heavy
people who ride well aren't in demand to condition some of
these top
horses.

I weighed in at 164 with my tack at Vermont, and have lost
10 lbs since
then :-)) That's 124 without tack. I would *love* to ride a
heavyweight's
horse in a competition (maybe on an even lighter saddle!)
and see if he
had a boost in power.

P.S.  For the first time I did the math on the 20% of my
horse's
bodyweight.  Kaboot weighed 847 at Vermont.  So...his limit
would be 180
lbs. So for him that would be the same as a 1,050 lb horse
carrying 210!
Interesting. He's carried 170 in plenty of races. I never
realized I had
him that close to his capacity.

Angie



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