"And because I appear to have a better understanding of physics than a lot
of people here, I was willing to shell out some cash for a dolly so that I could
use the principles of physics to reduce the work associated with moving heavy
objects by increasing their weight".
And sombody else said,
"And I have put it on a new dolly that weighs about 20 pounds but has
smooth running axles and air inflated tires that glides easily over the ground
absorbing many of the bumps in the road as if they weren't there."
So I figured I must be doing this wrong. All this
time I've been riding my horse up and down these darned hills. And
according to this, the solution to faster and easier rides was right there in my
shed...... Instead I think you folks may be trying to get me
killed.
I got out the old refrigerator dolly and
caught my horse. He was ok with me backing the dolly around him, but when I
tried to run the strap around him and strap him to the dolly he got over
excited. I never could get more than one foot to stay on the dolly
lip. Any suggestions from the physics experts?
Maybe I am confused.. Am I suppposed to get
on the dolly or is the horse supposed to be on it?
As for those who mentioned bicycle gears etc, I am
not even going to try and get him on the handlebars while I pedal.
Here is an experiment those of you who are talking
about levers can do. Go to a truck scale or feed store scale
and drag a teeter totter on it. Try various leverage lengths on the teeter
tottor and see if the total weight on the scales change... They won't ...
Leverage doesn't apply to riders and horses in the weight sense. You weight just
as much posting correctly as you do with your bottom flat in the
saddle.
Now one last thing for those who believe that
weight doesn't matter. If you take two horses that have trained together,
and have usually finished about the same time , and put two inexperienced riders
on them... and one rider weighs 500 pounds, and the other rider weighs 50
pounds... Which one will you bet on?
Is there any doubt that the 50 pound rider will
finish well ahead of the 500 pound rider? Why? Because of weight. Maybe we
don't have enough data to quantify the advantage of 20 pounds difference over 50
miles, but common sense and even physics will tell you there should be a
difference.
So ....If dollys and bicycles and levers are not
applicable to endurance riding...Maybe we should
just train our horse the best we know how... And enjoy the
ride....
