Re: RC: Up Hill or Down

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/10/00 2:33:40 PM Pacific Standard Time, Tivers writes:

<<  The center of gravity of the horse is just behind the shoulder, near the 
heart, when the horse is standing on a flat surface, according to the 
science, putting 60% of his stance weight on the forelegs. You can drop a 
plumb  line from this point and it will fall just behind the forefoot. If you 
place the horse on a downward incline,  The plumb line moves forward, 
probably past the foreleg on a reasonably gentle incline. Just a casual 
observation that doesn't require any horsemanship at all to make.
 
 What you are saying is that this does not result in more weight being placed 
on the forelegs vs the hindlegs? Don't need a long academic dissertation, 
just yea or neigh. Let's get past this one before we entertain the next 
simple concept.  >>

No argument where the CG of the body is, Tom.  But the positioning of the 
legs makes all the difference in the world as to where that weight is being 
supported.  And except when the horse is standing still and square, he may be 
supporting less or more with a given set of legs, depending on where he puts 
those legs.  Back to the dressage example--when a horse is sitting on his 
haunches, he hasn't altered what parts of his body weigh the most, but he has 
shifted 100% of the support to the hind end.  In fact, he is designed in such 
a way that he becomes more coordinated when he shifts his weight to the rear, 
and less coordinated when he shifts it to the front.  It is easier to make 
the shift to the rear with the dynamics of movement than it is when standing 
still, but even the static horse with founder can do a pretty fair job of 
shifting the weight to the rear simply by placing his rear feet further 
underneath himself than normal.

Heidi


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