Re: RC: RC: Re:overweight an issue?

[wsabg@t-online.de (Wolfgang Schwingenheuer)]

Jana Crewett wrote:

> .another German stepping in here (we're obviously an argumentative
> lot ;-))

You are German???


> Wolfgang,
>
> did the South African study mention any other measured values rather
> than only the riders' weight? ....snip

The introduction of that study tells me that they have collected all those
data, the study itself mentioned only the rider's weight, compared from
one to another.

> 1. Tevis is a hilly, relatively slow ride - South African rides are
> mainly known to be fairly fast (at least the winning speeds look quite
> fast to me compared to UK speeds).

> Susan, with data from the fairly slow Tevis ride, concluded that if
> the horse has "enough fuel in the tank", it can carry a heavier rider
> with no drop in performance, it will simply have "less reserve" after
> the finish. At higher speeds, the "energy equations" might look quite
> different - the heavier rider will put *much* more extra strain on the
> horse, so that, despite its good condition score, the horse now has no
> longer "enough fuel" for the added task of carrying more weight around
> the course at winning speeds.

Sound good.

> 2. The SA study did not give the horses' weights.
> ...snip..

I have emailed to ERASA to get in contact with Dr. Loukie Viljoen and ask
for an update of that study as well as for more data. I'll keep you
informed.

> 3. The SA study did not look at condition scoring.

Don't know, maybe they did. Waiting for an answer.

> 4. The SA study seems to come to a conclusion of the form "x extra kg
> lead to a y km/h slower speed".

One can see this as the conclusion of this study, yes.

> ...snip.. One obvious one would be that heavier riders
> might, on average, be older and less competitive, riding for
> completion rather than racing for top ten and thus obviously achieving
> lower speeds.

I don't think so. The Gold Medal Team of New Zealand at the WEC 1998 had
an average age of ~ 55 or even older. And they didn't ride for completion.

> These other factors might have been different in the
> Tevis riders and horses, hence Susan did not pick up a drop in speeds
> apparently caused by rider weight.
>
> So - I'll be back to lurking now and hope for more interesting
> discussion on this topic!
>
> Jana

As soon as I got more infos, I post them, promised.

Bye,

Wolfgang