RE: RE: Fwd: physiology of weight

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

Mike asks <<My point - there must be some other aspects of
the horse/rider equation that
allow MW/HW riders to win and top ten events.  I would love
to find out what
those are.>>>

I have always said "age and deceit will always overcome
youth and enthusiasm!"

That is how I used to do it.

Bob


Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Sofen [mailto:msofen@pacbell.net]
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 6:50 PM
To: tprevatt@mindspring.com
Cc: ridecamp@endurance.net; QSEndurance@onelist.com
Subject: RC: RE: Fwd: physiology of weight


Wonderful points, Truman.  But!  If weight were the only
factor of
importance, then ONLY FW/LW riders would ever top ten.  If
the physics
around carried weight are valid, then there is no way to
compensate for it -
it must be in effect for every rider and horse on every
ride.

My point - there must be some other aspects of the
horse/rider equation that
allow MW/HW riders to win and top ten events.  I would love
to find out what
those are.

Mike Sofen

-----Original Message-----
From: Truman Prevatt [mailto:tprevatt@mindspring.com]

Mike you have just answered your own question. Work required
is directly
proportional to mass - that's high school physics. It takes
twice the work
to
carry a 220 pound rider than it does a 110 pound ride. Since
the conversion
of
chemical energy to mechanical energy (which is how the body
works) is not
100%
efficient, maybe 50%, the other portion of the energy is
converted to heat.
This
heat has to be dissipated. So a horse carrying a 220 pound
rider has to
dissipate twice the heat as a horse carrying a 110 pound
ride. Here is where
Howard may have had a good point but didn't know it :-), in
the humidity it
is
harder to dissipate heat than in arid and semi-arid
climates. So the heat
dissipation related to weight differences may in fact be
slightly bigger
issue
in the East than the West, but I doubt it.

The more heat required to be dissipated the more sweat, the
more
electrolytes
lost, the higher the stress on the metabolic system. So I
would say from a
string of conclusions using no more than high school
physics, there is a
significantly higher stress level on a horse carrying 220
pounds vs 110
pounds.

On question, how do you compensate for the "mitigating
factor" of a horse
carrying a heavier weight producing more heat in proportion
of the weight
carried?

Cheers,
Truman



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