Re: RC: Re: overweight an issue?

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> Howard wrote:
> >The weight of the rider is a factor in determining best conditioned for
> good
> >reason.

OK.  Now tell me which horse has been under more stress during the
ride---Horse A, who has a condition score of 2.5, weighs 750 pounds and was
carrying a 175 pound rider.  Or, Horse B, who has a condition score of 5,
weighs 1000 pounds and was carrying a 220 pound rider and came in a few
minutes ahead of Horse A.  Both look about the same at BC judging.
According to the current protocol, Horse B will win BC, mostly because he
carried a heavier rider.  But I'll tell you, Horse A was beating some
serious odds to have even come in second, was metabolically carrying a much
heavier load and practically spit in the face of Death to be looking even
halfway decent at BC judging.

So you might want to look a little more at the big picture.


> Maybe your daughter's horse is more suited to the sport than yours. Able
> to be in top shape faster and naturally carrying a bigger "gas tank."
> Maybe her horse is better conformed. Maybe she's a better rider than
> you. What's your horse's body condition score (I admit, I don't know my
> horse's nor how to measure that, although I'd like to know) compared to

All true.  Maybe it is the weight. Might not be, though.  If your horse is
"having great difficulty" getting through a ride carrying 175 pounds, you
probably have alot else going on besides rider weight.

BTW, Deanna, there's an article on how to condition score your horse at:
http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/conditionscore.shtml



> I don't think anyone's debating that rider weight is not a factor. The
> debate is that rider weight is not as big of a factor as  "common sense"
> would indicate. Stated another way, there is at least one research study
> that shows that rider weight is not the only indicator of success
> (completions of Tevis in 3 years of the event) or failure (metabolic
> fatigue and failure to complete). (Am I correct, Susan?? I don't want to
> misrepresent your data and analysis.) There are lots of other variables
> to consider. There might be variables out there that give reason for
> further study.

Yes, that's basically it.  I'm not saying rider weight isn't a factor, it's
just not the ONLY factor, and based on the data we got, not the most
important factor.  The biggest effect rider weight has is on incidence of
lameness, and the biggest effect overall had to do with condition score.

Susan G