>Hello Ride
Camp. I have a specific question regarding the amount of weight on the
front end of a horse during riding. I know there is a specific amount
more weight on the front end of the horse during riding but apx. how much
more? is it 60% - 80%? or somewhere in-between? Does anyone
know?
STANDING, a horse has roughly 2/3 of his weight on
his front end. Moving, the ratio changes constantly. If the horse
has his hindquarters properly engaged, he may have a pretty equal division of
his weight hind and fore at the trot, where the weight is alternately on one
diagonal and then on the other. At the canter, all of the weight is on the
non-leading hind foot on the first beat of the stride, it is divided onto the
non-leading diagonal (again the proportion variable depending on how well on his
hindquarters the horse is) in the second, and all on the leading foreleg on the
third beat of the stride. I won't go into the shifting distribution at the
walk, but you get the idea.
Personally, I'd hate to ride a horse that had
significantly more than half of his weight on the forehand at, say, the
trot.
